A new species of dinosaur was announced by Indian and American scientists today: a 30-foot (9-meter), horned carnivore that hunted other dinosaurs 65 million years ago. The research was supported in part by the National Geographic Society. Includes a gallery of Rajasaurus images, charts, and maps.
Sky watchers are readying their telescopes for a close look at Mars. On August 27, the red planet will be the closest it's been to Earth in 60,000 years. Mark your calendar, because the next time Mars gets as close won't be until the year 2287.
Scientists ruled out green cheese several centuries ago. But while the composition of the moon hasn't been in doubt since the first lunar landings, the prime source of that material has. A new study suggests an answer based on analysis of Earth, moon, Mars, and meteorite rock samples.
According to the "small world" theory, you should be just six
handshakes or e-mail messages away from Madonna, Tiger Woods, or Nelson Mandela. But can anyone in the world really reach anyone else through a chain of just six friends? Yes, say researchers at Columbia University.
Decades of counting India's wild tiger population by studying pug (paw) marks in the earth have come to nil. Indian and U.S. researchers have concluded that the technique is misleading. The data collected in this way has led to wrong estimates of the size of the population of the country's wild tigers and, as a result, to "poor conservation practices," the experts say.
For years, scientists have been stumped as to how water striders, an insect commonly found on freshwater ponds, rivers, and lakes, "walk" on water. A team of researchers from MIT believed the insects rowed by novel means, and to prove their theory, they built an aluminum robot.
Twenty years ago, scientists discovered a hole in the Earth's ozone layer above Antarctica. The protective atmospheric layer showed signs of other widespread damage. Now after a decade-long ban on ozone-depleting chemicals, scientists report on the first hints of recovery.
The Southern Ocean ecosystem is threatened by overfishing, say scientists. The warning came at a major conference in London in July, with Antarctic researchers forecasting increased pressure on krill and fish stocks. They fear this could have a devastating impact on sea birds and marine mammals.
Ichthyosaurs were the giant marine predators of Jurassic and Cretaceous seas, thought to have specialized on squid-like prey. Now a new fossil with turtle and bird remains in its gut is causing some experts to question why the group disappeared.
After 20 days at sea, ocean explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau has reached Kure, in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The Pacific Ocean atoll marks the turning point of Cousteau's five-week expedition to explore and film one of the last pristine, large-scale coral reef ecosystems on the planet.
A thunderstorm that pounded south-central Nebraska in June ended up leaving something for the record books: The largest hailstone ever recovered in the United States, a 7-inch (17.8-centimeter) chunk of ice almost as wide as a soccer ball.
Nothing thrills and chills quite like a snake—unless it's a really, really big snake. National Geographic's Ultimate Explorer TV series went around the world in search of constrictors—the family of giant snakes that literally squeeze the life out of their prey.
A 42-year-old record may fall this summer when two British balloonists attempt to shatter the world-altitude mark for manned balloon flight. Andy Elson and Colin Prescot are waiting for a weather window during which they hope to pilot the QuinetiQ 1 to 132,000 feet (40,000 meters)—the very edge of space.
Archaeologists are trading in their trowels for ground-penetrating radar and remote-sensing robots, while underwater explorers have added multi-beam sonar and real-time video to their arsenal of tools. The new technology is transforming the field of archaeology.
