Scientists comparing DNA of Neandertals with early modern humans have concluded that it is unlikely that Neandertals contributed to the current European gene pool. The new research strengthens the theory that Neandertals did not interbreed with other early humans and that they may have died out because they could not compete with our ancestors.
A scientist proposes sending a grapefruit-size communication device into the heart of the Earth by blasting a crack in the surface and pouring in a huge quantity of molten iron. The weight of the liquid metal would crack the Earth for more than 1,800 miles (3,000 kilometers), carrying the probe to the planet's core in about a week.
A California-based marine biologist has uncovered a massive 5,071-pound (2.3-metric-ton) ocean sunfish some nine feet (2.7 meters) long and ten feet (3 meters) tall. The behemoth, caught in 1996 off the coast of Japan, may be the world's heaviest bony fish.
In late March hundreds of meteorites rained down on the Chicago area, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) southwest of downtown. This is the first time that a meteor shower has hit such a populated area—the event triggered several weeks of frenzy as scientists, dealers, and museums competed to get the biggest rocks for their collections.
On the night of Thursday, May 15 the full moon will slip into Earth's shadow and darken to an orange-reddish glow during the first of four total lunar eclipses to occur over the course of the next 17 months. The eclipse will be visible to sky-watchers throughout the Americas, Europe, and Africa.
They don't sting or bite. They don't cause diarrhea or headaches. They don't even exist in a tangible form. But "digital organisms"—special programs that reproduce, mutate, and adapt—can thrive inside computers, and they are teaching scientists several lifetimes' worth of information about evolution.
China has an unfortunate history of producing new viral strains, including the microbe behind the latest SARS outbreak. Some virologists believe traditional farming practices in China, where farmers raise ducks, pigs, and fish in one integrated system, may exchange viruses between animals and enable their jump to humans.
Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, a Michigan bio-informatics firm developed new supercomputer software to identify victims based on DNA. The program has been remarkably successful in its somber task. Experts say it has rewritten the science of DNA mass identification in the process.
In an inconspicuous office building in West Los Angeles, far from the turmoil of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Institute for Creative Technologies is developing virtual reality projects for the U.S. military. Its mission is to bring some Hollywood razzmatazz to Army war games and training exercises.
As cities grow worldwide, packing in enormous numbers of residents, the risk of a cataclysmic earthquake is rising, experts agree. The odds of a single quake killing a million or more people may now be as high as one in a hundred years.
New research adds to increasing evidence that tea is not only a much-loved beverage, but may offer a host of health benefits as well. A recent study reveals how substances found in tea may help prime the body's immune system to fight off infection. Other chemicals in green tea may be linked to skin cell rejuvenation.
Training for Mars, scientists are testing robots designed to find microscopic life-forms in Chile's Atacama desert—one of the most inhospitable corners on Earth. The three-year mission is sponsored by NASA's astrobiology exploration program.
Once a mountaintop where howler monkeys roamed, the lush island of Barro Colorado in the middle of the Panama Canal, is now also populated by scientists at work for the Smithsonian Institution's Tropical Research Institute. The island's tropical forest is one of the most intensively studied preserves on the planet.
California-based bioengineer Michael Dickinson has built an entire research lab, not to mention a professional career, dedicated to answering just how a fly's brain controls its muscles in precision flight. At last, some answers.
As the death count from SARS rises, health officials struggle to understand the potential of the viral threat and to frame a battle plan. But as researchers reveal, it isn't easy to gauge whether SARS, or any virus, can trigger a global epidemic. SARS updates appear on our U.S. cable television program National Geographic Today.
