January 20, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm New JWST images reveal Helix Nebula’s knots with stunning clarity A fresh look at the Helix Nebula captures new details of the cycle of stellar life and death By Joseph Howlett edited by Lee Billings A new image of a portion of the Helix…
Illustration of Paranthropus hominins, which lived between 2.7 and 1.4 million years ago JOHN BAVARO FINE ART/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY For the first time, the remains of ancient humans called Paranthropus have been found in the remote Afar region of Ethiopia. The discovery dramatically expands the area over which Paranthropus roamed, and suggests they lived in…
Bats are impressive navigators. Like so many mini submarines equipped with sonar, they deftly navigate dark forests and caves by listening for the echoes of their own calls. But how bats can tell which echo to follow while flitting around in a sea of overlapping and competing signals pinging off the myriad surfaces in their…
Different options exist within IVF treatment, and we’re learning more about their effectiveness ZEPHYR/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Natural ovulation is just as effective as hormone treatment for preparing the uterus for a frozen embryo transfer following in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and carries fewer risks, according to a large, randomised trial. Emerging evidence suggests that for women…
January 21, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Crew-11 astronauts reflect on ISS medical evacuation and future of human spaceflight At a press conference, former ISS commander Mike Fincke said Crew-11’s evacuation of the space station left him feeling more confident about human space exploration By Claire Cameron edited by Jeanna Bryner…
Biting flies on the head of an American crocodile Zeke Rowe/British Ecological Society Most animals would be afraid to go near a crocodile, but biting flies have no qualms about landing on this fearsome predator and drinking its blood. This photo, taken by Zeke Rowe in Panama’s Coiba National Park, was chosen as the overall…
A stencil made on a cave wall about 67,800 years ago is the oldest rock art ever discovered. “This image of a hand was created by someone placing their hand against the wall and then spraying a mouthful of paint around it,” says archaeologist Adam Brumm. The stencil is among hundreds of later paintings of…
January 21, 2026 3 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Mystery tower fossils may come from a newly discovered kind of life Towering Prototaxites ruled Earth before trees—and they may have been a form of life entirely new to science By Cody Cottier edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier Reconstruction of Prototaxites taiti, which could…
This hand stencil appears to have been modified to appear more claw-like Ahdi Agus Oktaviana A nearly 68,000-year-old hand stencil found on the wall of a cave in Sulawesi, Indonesia, may be the oldest rock art ever discovered – and rather than a simple handprint, it appears to have been touched up by the artist,…
PHOENIX — An abnormally huge cosmic structure has put a ring on it — and that bling might threaten a fundamental assumption of cosmology. A ring of dense matter spans more than 3.3 billion light-years, cosmologist Alexia Lopez reported January 6 at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society. If real, the structure could pose…
