19th-Century Circus Train Crash Mystery: Where's the Animal Graveyard?

 Posted on November 8, 2022  |  6 minutes  |  1244 words  |  Trudie Dory

The first car to go off the rails held the elephants. The tigers, lions, horses, crocodiles, pythons and a gorilla known as the "Man-Slayer" followed as the Walter L. Main circus train careened off the tracks down a 30-foot-high (10 meters) embankment, with gold-gilt, steel-barred wagons crashing one on top of the other in the legendary pileup at Tyrone, a small town in central Pennsylvania, on Memorial Day 1893. [Read More]

Antarctica's Bizarre Green Icebergs Are More Than a Quirk of the Southern Ocean

 Posted on November 8, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  623 words  |  Patria Henriques

Just in time for Saint Patrick's Day, scientists think they might know why some Antarctic icebergs are green. The reason could be iron oxide dust ground down by glaciers on the Antarctic mainland. If the theory holds, it means that the green 'bergs are more than just a quirk of the Southern Ocean. In fact, they might be crucial to the movement of ocean nutrients. "It's like taking a package to the post office," [Read More]

Caught in the Act: Ancient Armored Fish Downs Flying Reptile

 Posted on November 8, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  452 words  |  Fernande Dalal

An ancient armored fish was fossilized in the act of attacking and drowning a pterosaur in a toxic Jurassic lake, revealing that the winged reptiles were victims of a wide variety of carnivores, scientists find. Pterosaurs dominated the skies during the Age of Dinosaurs. Still, flight did not always ensure them safety — researchers have recently discovered that Velociraptor dined on the flying reptiles. Now scientists have uncovered five examples of the long-tailed pterosaur Rhamphorhychus apparently within the jaws of the ancient armored predatory fish Aspidorhynchus. [Read More]

Chernobyl's liquidators didn’t pass on radiation damage to their children

 Posted on November 8, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  832 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

Radiation exposure from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster — the world's deadliest nuclear accident — raised the risk of certain mutations linked to thyroid cancer, but it didn't cause new mutations in DNA that parents who cleaned up after the nuclear accident passed along to their children, two new studies find.  The new research is a step forward in understanding the mechanisms that drive human thyroid cancer, said Stephen Chanock, the director of the division of cancer epidemiology and genetics at the U. [Read More]

Elusive Siberian Tigers Captured in Brilliant Images (Photos)

 Posted on November 8, 2022  |  5 minutes  |  919 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Jonathan Slaght is projects manager for WCS's Russia Program. Julie Larsen Maher is staff photographer for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the first woman to hold the position since the society's founding in 1895. In addition to field visits, Maher photographs the animals at WCS's five New York-based wildlife parks: the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, New York Aquarium, Prospect Park Zoo and Queens Zoo. The authors contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. [Read More]

Gallery: Aerial Photos Reveal Mysterious Stone Structures

 Posted on November 8, 2022  |  2 minutes  |  344 words  |  Patria Henriques

Giant WheelsThe area near the Azraq Oasis in Jordan has hundreds of wheels, large structures made of stone that date back at least 2,000 years. These wheel structures are often found on lava fields and range from 82 feet to 230 feet (25 meters to 70 meters) across. Archaeologists used to believe that the Azraq Oasis wheels were used as a cemetery although that is now in doubt. (Unless otherwise noted, all the photographs in this album are taken from the air, as one can't make out the structures from flat ground. [Read More]

How we test, review and rate products on Live Science

 Posted on November 8, 2022  |  4 minutes  |  739 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

As an ethical brand, Live Science places great value on a transparent review process that ensures readers get advice they can trust on every product that we recommend. From fitness equipment, to health products, to tech and toys, the Live Science team is committed to helping you make the best possible purchases for your needs. Our rigorous testing process means a dedicated team of reviewers always spends quality time identifying the strengths, weaknesses and unique features of every single product that we review. [Read More]

Nearly 900 years ago, astronomers spotted a strange, bright light in the sky. We finally know what caused it.

 Posted on November 8, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  565 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

In the 12th century, Chinese and Japanese astronomers spotted a new light in the sky shining as brightly as Saturn. They identified it as a powerful stellar explosion known as a supernova and marked its approximate location in the sky — but its cause remained a mystery. Now, astronomers say they have solved the 840-year-old puzzle: Two extremely dense stars collided in the Milky Way and caused a supernova. The explosion likely resulted in the formation of a sizzling-hot star, now known as Parker's star, and a nebula, an expanding shell of gas and dust, called Pa 30. [Read More]

Science Suggests 'The Dog' Doesn't Exist (Op-Ed)

 Posted on November 8, 2022  |  7 minutes  |  1487 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Marc Bekoff, emeritus professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, is one of the world's pioneering cognitive ethologists, a Guggenheim Fellow, and co-founder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Bekoff's latest book is Why Dogs Hump and Bees Get Depressed(opens in new tab) (New World Library, 2013). This Op-Ed is adapted from one that appeared in Bekoff's column Animal Emotions in Psychology Today. He contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. [Read More]

There's a Sign Women Are Ovulating, But Men Can't Detect It

 Posted on November 8, 2022  |  3 minutes  |  621 words  |  Trudie Dory

Women's cheeks get redder when they are the most fertile, but this color change is so subtle that it is undetectable by the human eye, a new study finds. In the study, researchers in the United Kingdom took photographs of 22 women every weekday over the course of one month. After analyzing the photos, the researchers concluded that the women's faces got redder around the time they ovulated. "This is the first study to conclusively show that women's faces do change in redness over the course of the menstrual cycle," [Read More]