Science

Geology, paleontology, physics, space and the natural world

In Science, ECOnews reports on new discoveries in geology, paleontology, physics, space, health and the natural world. We explain the latest studies from universities and labs worldwide in plain language.

Aerial view of shallow waterways, rocky islets, and wetlands in Finland’s Kvarken Archipelago

Finland is still rising from the sea more than 10,000 years after the last ice age, exposing roughly 1,730 acres of new land each year, but homeowners may discover that the new ground appearing beyond their waterfront property legally belongs to someone else

By ECONEWS

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September 15, 2026 at 4:55 PM

Researcher examining a ball-and-stick molecular model in a laboratory.

A new Cardiff-led study says the inductive effect is mostly limited to one bond in neutral organic molecules

By Adrian Villellas

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September 14, 2026 at 5:14 PM

Hand holding fossil jaw and teeth of Masripithecus moghraensis found in Egypt

Scientists found the jaw and teeth of an unknown ape that lived in Egypt 17 to 18 million years ago, and its unexpected place near the roots of living apes is challenging the long-held focus on East Africa in the search for our ancient evolutionary family

By ECONEWS

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September 14, 2026 at 12:21 PM

Thin dark Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary layer exposed beneath sandstone in a rock outcrop, with a rock hammer for scale

A rare metal has traced the dinosaur-killing asteroid beyond Jupiter, and the discovery narrows a 66-million-year-old mystery

By Adrian Villellas

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September 14, 2026 at 6:10 AM

Researcher adjusting optical components on a laser table in a quantum physics laboratory lit in red and blue

Heat flowed from cold to hot in a quantum experiment, and the reason was not free energy but information

By ECONEWS

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September 13, 2026 at 6:24 AM

Platypterygius australis ichthyosaur fossil displayed at Kronosaurus Korner in Queensland.

A Queensland fossil preserved an ichthyosaur’s last meal, but the hunter soon became food for something even larger

By ECONEWS

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September 11, 2026 at 8:24 AM

Deep-sea vehicle illuminating a small section of the ocean floor in darkness.

Scientists say we have seen less than 0.001% of the deep seafloor, and the unknown part is bigger than the map suggests

By ECONEWS

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September 10, 2026 at 6:32 PM

Eight Biosphere 2 crew members inside the closed ecological system in Arizona.

Eight people sealed themselves inside Arizona’s Biosphere 2, and the oxygen mystery revealed how hard Earth is to copy

By Adrian Villellas

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September 10, 2026 at 6:24 AM

Illustration of the enormous Big Ring structure formed by galaxies in the distant Universe.

A giant ring appeared in the distant Universe, and the arc beside it may be pointing to something cosmology has missed

By Adrian Villellas

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September 9, 2026 at 5:18 PM

Turritopsis dohrnii, the tiny jellyfish capable of reversing its life cycle.

A jellyfish smaller than a fingernail can reverse aging, but its strange reset trick is not the immortality people imagine

By ECONEWS

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September 9, 2026 at 3:27 PM

Illustration of three Tyrannosaurus rex in a prehistoric landscape, representing the species researchers used to estimate historic population size.

Scientists estimate 2.5 billion T. rex once lived in North America, but museums hold only 32 well-preserved adults

By ECONEWS

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September 9, 2026 at 8:37 AM

Thin layer of frost covering rocks and soil at the Viking 2 landing site in Utopia Planitia on Mars.

NASA’s Viking 2 photographed a pale frost on Mars nearly 50 years ago, and scientists now think it may have created 30 days of hidden brine

By ECONEWS

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September 8, 2026 at 5:00 PM

Woman sitting apart from friends during a social gathering.

Psychology says the friend who never asks for help may be hiding a survival strategy learned long before adulthood

By ECONEWS

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September 7, 2026 at 6:30 AM

Archaeologists excavate storage pits and hearths inside the Coves del Fem rock shelter in Ulldemolins, Spain.

Archaeologists uncovered eight 8,000-year-old storage pits in Spain, but the deeper layers held an even rarer surprise, remarkably preserved traces of the last hunter-gatherers who lived there just before farming transformed the region

By ECONEWS

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September 5, 2026 at 8:45 AM

Steam rising from the Shanay-Timpishka, the Boiling River in the Peruvian Amazon.

A river in the Peruvian Amazon runs hot enough to reach 86°C with no volcano nearby, and researchers found that every 1°C increase along its banks was linked to an 11% drop in local tree diversity

By ECONEWS

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September 4, 2026 at 10:15 AM

Iridescent ammonite fossils from South Dakota dating back about 69 to 72 million years.

Between 69 and 72 million years ago, a vast sea covered what is now South Dakota, and fossils found there still have iridescent shells that shimmer like pearls after all that time buried underground

By Adrian Villellas

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September 4, 2026 at 8:45 AM

View of Mars' ice-covered south polar region, where radar observations have investigated a possible buried lake.

NASA’s radar searched for Mars’ buried lake beneath the south pole, and the weak echo has made the water mystery harder to believe

By ECONEWS

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September 3, 2026 at 10:15 AM

Ancient gold ring with a Brahmi inscription discovered at the Don Yai Thong archaeological site in Thailand.

A 2,000-year-old gold ring found beside human remains in Thailand carries an inscription that may reveal an ancient trade route

By ECONEWS

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September 2, 2026 at 8:45 AM

Global view of Mars, the planet NASA plans to eventually explore with human crews.

NASA still has no year for the first human Mars landing, and the missing date reveals why the real countdown has not begun

By ECONEWS

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September 1, 2026 at 6:38 PM

Two 40,000-year-old bird figurines carved from mammoth ivory and discovered in Hohle Fels Cave in Germany.

Archaeologists have uncovered two tiny bird figurines carved from mammoth ivory in Hohle Fels Cave in southwestern Germany dating back about 40,000 years

By ECONEWS

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September 1, 2026 at 5:00 PM

Previous Next

Science

Finland is still rising from the sea more than 10,000 years after the last ice age, exposing roughly 1,730 acres of new land each year, but homeowners may discover that the new ground appearing beyond their waterfront property legally belongs to someone else

A new Cardiff-led study says the inductive effect is mostly limited to one bond in neutral organic molecules

Scientists found the jaw and teeth of an unknown ape that lived in Egypt 17 to 18 million years ago, and its unexpected place near the roots of living apes is challenging the long-held focus on East Africa in the search for our ancient evolutionary family

A rare metal has traced the dinosaur-killing asteroid beyond Jupiter, and the discovery narrows a 66-million-year-old mystery

Heat flowed from cold to hot in a quantum experiment, and the reason was not free energy but information

A Queensland fossil preserved an ichthyosaur’s last meal, but the hunter soon became food for something even larger

Scientists say we have seen less than 0.001% of the deep seafloor, and the unknown part is bigger than the map suggests

Eight people sealed themselves inside Arizona’s Biosphere 2, and the oxygen mystery revealed how hard Earth is to copy

A giant ring appeared in the distant Universe, and the arc beside it may be pointing to something cosmology has missed

A jellyfish smaller than a fingernail can reverse aging, but its strange reset trick is not the immortality people imagine

Scientists estimate 2.5 billion T. rex once lived in North America, but museums hold only 32 well-preserved adults

NASA’s Viking 2 photographed a pale frost on Mars nearly 50 years ago, and scientists now think it may have created 30 days of hidden brine

Psychology says the friend who never asks for help may be hiding a survival strategy learned long before adulthood

Archaeologists uncovered eight 8,000-year-old storage pits in Spain, but the deeper layers held an even rarer surprise, remarkably preserved traces of the last hunter-gatherers who lived there just before farming transformed the region

A river in the Peruvian Amazon runs hot enough to reach 86°C with no volcano nearby, and researchers found that every 1°C increase along its banks was linked to an 11% drop in local tree diversity

Between 69 and 72 million years ago, a vast sea covered what is now South Dakota, and fossils found there still have iridescent shells that shimmer like pearls after all that time buried underground

NASA’s radar searched for Mars’ buried lake beneath the south pole, and the weak echo has made the water mystery harder to believe

A 2,000-year-old gold ring found beside human remains in Thailand carries an inscription that may reveal an ancient trade route

NASA still has no year for the first human Mars landing, and the missing date reveals why the real countdown has not begun

Archaeologists have uncovered two tiny bird figurines carved from mammoth ivory in Hohle Fels Cave in southwestern Germany dating back about 40,000 years

In Romania’s Brașov County, brown bears number about 1,329 by a national genetic estimate, the highest density of any county, and one bear relocated from Poiana Brașov was back within 3 days

More than 40 Magellanic penguins born in captivity arrived by court order from Mar del Plata at a river island in Argentina’s Río Negro province, and at first they had not explored even a third of their new home

In Japan, researchers led by Tohoku University used an inexpensive blue pigment to turn carbon dioxide into methane with 79.5% Faradaic efficiency, and methane selectivity stayed above 60% for about 80 hours

At 8.2 feet on Oct. 13, the Lake Constance water level in Konstanz, Germany, fell below a 1947 record for the date, and it now sits 10 inches under last winter’s low

A simulated AMOC collapse in an unreviewed preprint cut wheat, corn and rice harvests in Germany and Ukraine by roughly 16 to 19 percent, and cereal prices could climb up to 40 percent in the worst case

A landslide in Alaska’s Tracy Arm fjord sent a tsunami 1,578 feet up the opposite wall, and a Science study found small tremors striking every 30 to 60 seconds in the hours before the collapse

A company won a mining license for a magnesium deposit it estimates at more than 50 million metric tons near Rășinari, in Romania’s Sibiu County, and the EU gets 97 percent of its magnesium from China

Leap seconds will end on May 20, 2027, under a rule the General Conference on Weights and Measures adopted in Versailles, France, and a new study finds Earth’s solid surface turning slightly rounder as polar ground rises

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