However, scientists have begun to learn a bit about one particular Neanderthal family through DNA. A new study published today in the journal Nature examines the sequenced DNA from 13 Neanderthal individuals: 7 males and 6 females, of which 8 were adults and 5 were children and young adolescents. When analyzing the DNA, the team found that the remains included a Neanderthal father and his teenage daughter and a young boy, as well as an adult female who was possibly a cousin, aunt, or grandmother....

See Sehuencas water frogs in love Romeo (pictured above in all his orange tummy glory), was thought to be the last Sehuencas water frog in existence. Ever since biologists scooped him out of the wilds of Bolivia, he’s been the most eligible frog bachelor in the world. Most recently, the Global Wildlife Conservation group created a Match dot com dating profile in order to find Romeo his better half—by sending an expedition to South America....

Images captured from high above the fray may be less evocative of some big-budget disaster film, but they put the wildfires into terrifying perspective. NASA’s Terra satellite captured the image above on Friday morning, showing the massive spread of smoke from all three blazes out into the ocean. On Thursday morning NASA’s Landsat 8 acquired a closer view of the Camp Fire, which had started just around four hours earlier....

On Monday April 8, 2019, residents of Durham, North Carolina encountered what some are calling “pollmageddon,” during which an onslaught of greenish-yellow pollen blanketed the area. It covered cars and patios, and even visibly floated through the air. Photographer Jeremy Gilchrist saw the allergy apocalypse from his car and sent up his drone to document it. He posted the eye-watering photos on Facebook, writing, “No tricks here. Yes you are looking at a green haze made up of tree pollen from the pines of central NC!...

A lot of Alaska is unusually warm for this time of year, especially in northern and coastal regions near declining sea ice. “The average March temperature over the north slope and northwest Alaska was 18 to 24 degrees above normal for the entire month [of March],” says Rick Thoman, climate specialist with the International Arctic Research Center in Fairbanks. “Basically every single long-term climate site in Alaska north of the Alaska Range and on the west coast north of Bristol Bay had their warmest March on record, and some of those sites have more than 100 years of climate data....

The world of Minecraft itself rewards coding, and almost as soon as it was released people have built calculators and other, more complicated computers inside of it. Still, the coding program Microsoft wants to teach isn’t quite the game, but it has the look and feel of Minecraft. Players will link blocks of code in a visual interface, snapping them together like virtual Legos (or, well, Minecraft cubes), to create a set of behaviors for a person on the screen....

Legions of so-called “sober curious” individuals are putting the shot glasses down, and seeking an alternative to a punch-drunk life of bloating, inhibited executive function, and, some might say, fun. This mocktail movement is fueled, Nicole Fallert wrote in a recent article for Vox, by “a new audience of information-laden young people who are willing to buy seltzers, nonalcoholic beers, and even water in the name of wellness.” These might be the same friends who talk about eliminating meat or other animal products in favor of a “plant-based diet,” or swapping their standing coffee order for decaf drinks....

A dose of synthetic fentanyl can be up to 50 times stronger than a dose of heroin. Other fentanyl analogues are often even more potent. The danger comes when a user expecting a less powerful opiate takes fentanyl or one of its analogues—and might inadvertently take a heavy, deadly dose. Across the country, both federal and state governments have recognized that existing punitive policies have failed to reduce drug use, and have prevented individuals from accessing lifesaving care....

But, even with all of those factors working against it, the new Moto Razr looks promising. Closed, the device could almost pass as the familiar 2006 version of the phone. The 2.7-inch external OLED screen is much more robust than the original’s, of course, but it still has the look of something Veronica Mars would have used in season two back in the mid-2000s. Flip the new Razr open, however, and there’s a 6....

But before Artemis 1 can happen, NASA needs to ensure that its highly touted rocket—known as the Space Launch System (SLS)—is fully operational. That still hasn’t happened; the rocket’s latest dress rehearsal ended prematurely earlier this month. It’s the third in a sequence of unsuccessful practice sessions for the team of engineers. One of the key problems is that NASA hasn’t been able to pump all of the Artemis rocket’s fuel reserved into its tanks....

The report was published last week by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, which is an independent organization tasked with helping NASA and the National Science Foundation to assess the state of planetary science research and choose goals. A previous report led to two of NASA’s biggest missions of this decade. Scientists would love to “visit every body in the solar system,” but there are finite resources, so the report helps direct money towards the projects that will offer the most bang for their buck, says Amy Simon, the vice chair of the report’s giant planet systems panel and a planetary scientist at NASA....

Nearly every weekend, today’s speed lovers can live vicariously by watching their favorite NASCAR drivers race around the track at death-defying speeds. Maybe it’s the excitement in the crowd or maybe it’s the constant threat of danger that draws people to the sport. Or maybe its the feats of science and engineering that pull some spectators in. As a physicist, I love seeing all the physics principles on display during a NASCAR race....

It’s all about the screen A lot of the Apple Watch Series 7’s biggest improvements revolve around its new, larger watchface display—available in 41mm and 45mm sizes, versus the Apple Watch Series 6‘s 40 and 44mm options. That doesn’t sound like much, but Apple claims the watchface features “nearly 20-percent” more screen thanks to thinner, 1.7mm borders. To take advantage of the bigger screen, WatchOS 8 will add two new watch faces designed specifically for Apple Watch Series 7....

Alan Wasser, chairman of the Space Settlement Institute, just published a paper suggesting that the U.S. and other nations should agree on something called “land claim recognition” legislation. This would allow someone, or some group, that has actually settled on the Moon, Mars or one of the man asteroids floating around our solar system to have official, internationally recognized rights to that spot. Naturally, the people initially touching down on the lunar surface won’t just be individuals looking for a new life – the idea behind this is to really stimulate the business of space....

In a paper published today in Science, researchers announced the invention of a new fabric called nanoporous polyethylene (or nanoPE for short). The fabric has unusual roots from something so cool: plastic wrap. Yep, the kind you put on food to keep it fresh. Plastic wrap isn’t known for its breathable properties, and wearing the sheer material would be a fashion choice limited to only the most daring trendsetters. But plastic wrap does have the ability to let infrared radiation pass easily through it, something that other fabrics like cotton can’t do....

On that note, we wanted to share our favorites from the 2020 finalists of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, which will be announcing its winners in mid-October. The contest has been shaking up the all-too-serious field of nature photography since 2015, but this year it feels even more necessary. Now, without further delay, some serial killer fish, hungover penguins, and profane, pissed-off sea turtles for your “educational” benefit.

“The FAA Will Shoot Down Your Drone If You Fly It Near The Super Bowl,” claims Fast Company. “The FAA says it will shoot down your drone if you fly within 36 miles of the Super Bowl,” reads the headline at Digital Trends. Business Insider was a bit more modest, noting “The FAA is warning people not to fly drones within 32 miles of the Super Bowl.” I’ve written about this before, and was struck by the references to “deadly force,” which aren’t in the announcement from the FAA or the official notice....

It turns out that too many bacteria living in the large intestine may play a role in stunting growth, according to a study published yesterday in the journal mBio. By understanding the relationship between intestinal bacteria and nutrition, researchers could find treatments for stunting. The researchers looked into a condition called Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), an infection thought to inflame the intestine and limit the nutrients a person can absorb from food....