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☆ Ancient DNA pulls back curtain on mysterious empire
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-27 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Editor’s note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Analysis of ancient DNA recovered from human remains has illuminated the traits and ancestry of historic individuals — be it a mummified iceman, Chinese emperor or legendary composer. The origins of the empire and its people remained obscure until a landmark April 2022 study found they hailed from the Mongolian steppe. Carolyn Kaster/APNaturalists have spotted the first arrivals in this spring’s historic cicada dual emergence. Sign up here to receive in your inbox the next edition of Wonder Theory, brought to you by CNN Space and Science writers Ashley Strickland and Katie Hunt.

Persons: It’s, Loki, Gerald Eichstädt, Thomas Thomopoulos, ”, Scott Bolton, Bolton, George Mallory, Andrew Irvine, Mallory, Ruth, Carolyn Kaster, haven’t, you’re, —, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, of Archaeological Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, Múzeum, NASA, Voyager, JPL, Caltech, Southwest Research Institute, Magdalene College , Cambridge, AP Naturalists, — Boeing, — Surgeons, Hubble, CNN Space, Science Locations: Rákóczifalva, Hungary, Central, Eastern Europe, Mount, United Kingdom, Macon , Georgia, South, Midwest

☆ Cicadas 2024: What to expect from the 2024 periodical cicada emergence and how to prepare
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The insects will infiltrate a much bigger geographical area than similar occurrences in most years because they’re part of the dual emergence of two particular periodical cicada broods. Although the full-scale emergence isn’t underway yet, experts have some guidance on how to prepare for cicada season. A periodical cicada that has just shed its outer skeleton crawls among holes dug by emerging cicada nymphs on May 20, 2021, in Takoma Park, Maryland. A young tree in Takoma Park, Maryland, is draped in netting in May 2021 to protect its small branches from being damaged by periodical cicadas laying their eggs in them. It’s not clear why periodical cicadas evolved to emerge every 13 or 17 years.

Persons: Louis —, Chip Somodevilla, “, ”, Paula Shrewsbury, ” Shrewsbury, John Lill, sapling, Lill, Jason Whitman, Shrewsbury, They’re Organizations: CNN, Naturalists, Southern, University of Maryland, North, George Washington University, US Food and Drug Administration Locations: Chicago, Nashville, St, Northern Illinois, Takoma Park , Maryland, North America, United States

☆ Fungi mystery: Amphibian found with mushroom growing from its body
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But a newly described mystery involving a mushroom and a frog suggests that fungi’s role in the environment is anything but black-and-white. Once upon a planetA golden-backed frog is seen with a small mushroom (right) growing out of its body. Elsewhere in our solar system, space scientists have spotted three faint and tiny moons orbiting the outermost planets in the Milky Way: Uranus and Neptune. — A dead star that feasted on a planet once in its orbit could foretell the eventual fate of our own solar system. They find wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.

Persons: Lohit, Dimorphos, ”, Dr, Sabina Raducan, it’s, Ralf Britz, Britz, Here’s, Odysseus, Odie, —, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, NASA, DART, University of Bern’s Physics, CNN Space, Science Locations: Indian, Karnataka, Dimorphos, Switzerland, Myanmar, Dresden, Germany, Roman Britain, United States

☆ A frog in India has a mushroom sprouting out of it. Researchers have never seen anything like it
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Taylor Nicioli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The prognosis of the frog with the mushroom hitchhiker is unknown, but there are a handful of theories as to the cause of its condition. Therefore, something like this is interesting and should be followed up with observations and screening of frogs,” Vasudevan said in an email. Initially, Vasudevan had thought the mushroom was stuck on the frog’s skin rather than a growth, but photos of the critter convinced him otherwise. “It is indeed the case of a live mushroom on a live frog,” Vasudevan said. The disease has been observed in low levels in all the frog hotspots across India, the authors of the new note wrote.

Persons: —, ”, Lohit, mycologists, Alyssa Wetterau Kaganer, ” Kaganer, Kaganer, Karthikeyan Vasudevan, Vasudevan, ” Vasudevan, it’ll Organizations: CNN, World Wildlife Fund, India, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, Laboratory, Centre, Cellular Locations: Karnataka, India, Bengaluru, Kerala, Telangana

☆ We started homeschooling our kids to travel. We've bonded as a family, and they're learning through unique experiences.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Terri Peters | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Here’s what I’ve learned along the way about homeschooling kids to free up more time for travel. My kids learn lessons during travel they can’t learn at homeTerri Peters' two kids learn about nature and science while on their trips, including on this trip to Alaska. AdvertisementTraveling with my kids has given me a unique chance to watch them growThe family started homeschooling when the kids were in fourth and sixth grades. Courtesy Terri PetersWhen we first started homeschooling, my kids were in the middle of fourth and sixth grades. Courtesy Terri PetersThere are no limits to what we can consider as homeschooling when we travel with our kids.

Persons: you’d, I’d, they’d, ”, haven’t, I’ve, Terri Peters, I’ll, homeschoolers, they’ve, we’ve, Harry Potter, there’s, we’re, Young, she’d Organizations: Service, Business, Grand Cayman, National Geographic, Florida Oceanographic Society, Universal Orlando Locations: Grand, Greenville , South Carolina, Seattle, Alaska, Aruba, Dominican Republic, Los Angeles, Los Angeles , California, Hollywood, it’s, Bahamas, Florida

☆ Mummified animals Napoleon's scientists brought back from Egypt sparked a pre-Darwinian debate about evolution
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte brought a slew of savants — geologists, engineers, and other scientists — on his unsuccessful attempt to take over Egypt. A collection of mummified animals that the scholars brought back from Egypt seemed to hold the key to the question of species transformation. Naturalists Cuvier and Lamarck had first sparred three decades earlier when a mummified ibis arrived at the museum. The skeleton of a mummified ibis (middle) that Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire brought back from Egypt, along with a cat and a hawk. "I have shown that it is at the present time precisely as it was in the time of the Pharaohs ," he later wrote of the mummified ibis.

Persons: Darwin, —, Napoleon Bonaparte, Naturalists Georges Cuvier, Jean, Baptiste Lamarck, Cuvier, Lamarck, transformism, Naturalists Cuvier, Lamarck’s, Charles Darwin, Marie Jules Cesar Savigny, ” Cuvier, Geoffroy, savants, Etienne Geoffroy Saint, Hilaire, lungfish, Geoffroy Saint, Jenny McGrath, “, Charles Darwin’s “ Organizations: Service, Naturalists, French Museum of, French Academy of Sciences, Getty Locations: transformism, Egypt

☆ Napoleon stranded a bunch of scientists in Egypt and now we have modern archaeology
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Napoleon Bonaparte brought engineers, architects, and scientists when he invaded Egypt. In three stages, these "savants" meticulously illustrated the ruins of ancient Egypt. But one of his lesser-known offenses — abandoning a crew of scholars and scientists in Egypt — led to the unexpected byproduct of formal archaeology as we know it today. AdvertisementIt divided Egypt into ancient and modern times, and launched the modern vision of ancient Egypt as we know it today. The structures, symbols, and images of ancient Egypt became fashionable features of European art and architecture.

Persons: Napoleon Bonaparte, —, Egypt —, Ridley Scott, Napoleon, Mohamed Abd El Ghany, Nina Burleigh, Dominique, Vivant, Denon, savants, Napoleon's savants, Burleigh Organizations: Service, Scientific, Art Media, Egyptian Ministry of Tourism Locations: Egypt, France, Upper Egypt, Kings, Luxor, Karnak, Thebes, Edfu, Upper, Lower Egypt, Egyptian, Europe

☆ Close-up Photographer of the Year: Images show the hidden wonders of nature
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( Nell Lewis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Mesmerizing photos of ants firing acid, a shrimp floating over a rainbow-colored mosaic sea star, and a butterfly peering in at a wedding party are among the winning images of the Close-up Photographer of the Year 2023 competition. The contest, in its fifth year, celebrates micro and macro photography, striving to show the hidden wonders of the natural world, from microscopic fungi to majestic animals. Micro is the term used for taking photos of tiny subjects that require magnification, while macro involves capturing close-up images of larger subjects. The title of young close-up photographer of the year went to 17-year-old Spaniard Carlos Pérez Naval for his image of a Moorish gecko on a wall covered with pyrolusite crystals. While many other photo awards feature close-up categories, they believed there was a need for an entire competition dedicated to macro and micro photography.

Persons: Tracy Calder, ”, Csaba Daróczi, Carlos Pérez, “, –, Calder, Daniel, “ There’s Organizations: CNN Locations: Hungarian, Calamacha, Spain

☆ 7 scientific breakthroughs that resulted from Napoleon's invasion of Egypt
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Then, after a series of defeats in Egypt, Napoleon returned to France in 1799 and left many of the scientists stranded. At the time of Napoleon's invasion, travelers had long known of Alexandria, Cairo, and other parts of Lower Egypt. Just 21 and a botanist by training when he arrived in Egypt, Savigny collected invertebrates like worms, bees, spiders, snails, and flies. The Rosetta Stone helped Champollion discover how to decipher hieroglyphsFor centuries, no one could read hieroglyphs, the pictorial writing that covered many Egyptian monuments. When the French found the Rosetta Stone during their invasion, they knew it could serve as a kind of translation key.

Persons: Napoleon, —, Napoleon Bonaparte, Egypt that's, Claude, Louis, Berthollet, natron, Werner Forman, savants, Sand, Dominique, Vivant, Denon, Karnak, he'd, Savigny, Jules, César Savigny, De Agostini, Getty Images Savigny, Etienne Geoffroy Saint, Hilaire, Geoffroy, Charles Darwin, Evon Hekkala, Crocodylus, John Vetch, Vetch, Rosetta Stone, Champollion, Rosetta, Jean, François, Nicolas, Jacques Conté Organizations: Service, Institut, West, Universal, Egypt wasn't, Art Media, Getty Images, Getty, Science, Society Picture Library, Europe, France's, British Museum, Fox, Cairo . Science Locations: Egypt, Cairo, France, Natron, Limestone, Wadi El Natrun, Upper, Lower Egypt, Alexandria, Edfu, Thebes, Esna, Paris, Egpyt, Europe

☆ ‘How Life Works’ Review: More Than a Box of Chocolates
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Adrian Woolfson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The frontispiece of the first edition of “Systema Naturae” (1735) depicts the botanist Carl Linnaeus as an Adam-like figure, liberally dispensing names to the newly generated creatures of the natural world. The notion reflected here, that living organisms are the immutable products of divine creation, was challenged in 1858 by the naturalists Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. They argued that the apparent design of living things resulted, instead, from the incremental accumulation of innumerable small heritable changes over vast expanses of geological time. This and various other constraints—including the need to maintain sufficient plasticity for adaptability—mean that organisms are compromised, inevitably incorporating numerous vulnerabilities. These result, in the case of humans, in an assortment of ailments and a precarious relationship with mortality.

Persons: Carl Linnaeus, Adam, Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace Organizations: Systema

☆ The Wild Beauty of Moss
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Jenny Comita | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

And yet moss — unassuming and literally underfoot — has long been overlooked by Western naturalists. In fact, some of the most popular plants known as moss are not actually mosses (Irish moss belongs to the carnation family; Spanish moss is a bromeliad). SOPHIA MORENO-BUNGE, the founder of the Los Angeles floral design studio Isa Isa, especially enjoys working with Spanish moss around the holidays. In Los Angeles, moss can be hard to come by, but farther north, it’s a defining element of the landscape. The Portland, Ore.-based floral designer Françoise Weeks uses several types to create her abstract woodland wall sculptures, which also feature curling bark, dried seed pods and wildflowers.

Persons: Emily Thompson, “ Moss, ”, “, they’ve, Wall Kimmerer, Moss, Kimmerer, SOPHIA MORENO, BUNGE, Isa Isa, Maurice Sendak, Kelly Wearstler, Françoise Weeks, Weeks Organizations: New York Locations: Kingdom, New York, Angeles, Los Angeles, Portland, Pacific

Drumnadrochit, Scotland CNN —It’s not the volume of water in Loch Ness that impresses, although that’s substantial. The "surgeon's photographs" of 1934 are the most famous images of the Loch Ness Monster -- although they were later exposed as a hoax. “It’s a really bizarre extended family of Loch Ness enthusiasts,” says McKenna, his love for the project glowing in every word. But, says McKenna, “Loch Ness is so fascinating that it can cause these mirages. Until then, the Loch Ness Exploration group meets monthly on the loch and is free and open to everyone — believers, sceptics and agnostics alike: details are on the public Facebook page.

Persons: Scotland CNN — It’s, ”, Alan McKenna, Jeff J Mitchell, you’ve, you’ll, Loch, it’ll, Hugh Gray, Aldie McKay, Saint Columba, Aleister Crowley’s, Jimmy Page, Adrian Shine, Rasputin, Santa, He’s, McKenna, Steve Feltham, who’s, “, Alistair Matheson, Aldie, We’re, Loch Ness, Russell Cheyne, Matheson, we’ve, Andy Buchanan Organizations: CNN, Scotland CNN, Edinburgh, Getty, Loch, Keystone, “, Reuters, Pacific . Locations: Drumnadrochit, Scotland, Loch Ness, guesthouses, Isle, Skye, Boleskine, Santa Claus, Edinburgh, Loch, ”, Pacific, AFP

“One of the biggest problems is the fragmentation of the forest,” said Luís Paulo Ferraz, executive director of the Golden Lion Tamarin Association, known by its Portuguese acronym AMLD. In the canopy above, the small golden monkeys with long tails were jumping from one branch to another. In the specific region of the Atlantic forest where golden lion tamarins can be found, the forest is down to just 2% of its original size, Ferraz said. In the 1970s, when scientists began efforts to save the species, there were just 200 golden lion tamarins left, according to AMLD. And in spite of a bad bout of yellow fever in 2018 — when the population dropped more than 30% in a matter of months — there are now more golden lion tamarins than at any time since conservation efforts began.

Persons: replanting, ”, Luís Paulo Ferraz, Sarah Darwin, Charles Darwin, “, ” Darwin, Ferraz, tamarins, Diarlei Rodrigues Organizations: RIO DE, Lion Tamarin Association, Nature Conservancy, AMLD, Associated Press Locations: RIO DE JANEIRO, Rio de, Forest, British, Portuguese, Brazil’s, Brazil, —

☆ Starfish bodies are really just heads, new research says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —The heads of most animals are easily identifiable, but scientists haven’t been able to say the same for sea stars until now. But new genetic research suggests the opposite — that sea stars are largely heads that lack torsos or tails and likely lost those features evolutionarily over time. There, they go through a process that transforms a bilateral body into a star shape, or pentaradial body. But echinoderms also share a common ancestor with bilateral animals, which adds to the puzzle researchers are trying to solve. Specific molecular markers act like body plan blueprints, directing each cell to the body region where it belongs.

Persons: haven’t, It’s, ”, Laurent Formery, “ It’s, Christopher Lowe, Jeff Thompson, “, ” Lowe, Formery, Chan Zuckerberg, Dr, Priscilla Chan, Mark Zuckerberg, Laurent Formery “, ” Thompson, Daniel Rokhsar Organizations: CNN, Stanford University, University of California, University of Southampton, NASA, National Science Foundation, Leverhulme Trust Locations: Berkeley, San Francisco

☆ Low water levels in Texas reveal dinosaur tracks dating back 110 million years
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Rachel Ramirez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —As Texas baked in record-breaking heat this summer and a growing drought pushed water levels down, a group of volunteers uncovered something sort of magnificent: new giant dinosaur tracks that are believed to be from around 110 million years ago. Paul Baker, the retail manager at Dinosaur Valley State Park, told CNN he has “never seen this many dinosaur tracks” before. It is a hotspot for dinosaur enthusiasts and tourists who typically flock the now-dry Paluxy River to fish, swim and kayak. Paul BakerThe Paluxy River usually draws tourists for fishing, swimming and kayaking, but has been bone dry in this summer's growing drought. Baker was raised in Dinosaur Valley State Park – his father was a park manager for 30 years – and now operates several businesses, including the park’s gift shop.

Persons: Paul Baker, ”, Baker, I’d, it’s, ” Baker, “, dino, ” Kuban, –, ” Read, Mead Organizations: CNN, Dinosaur, US Drought Monitor, Glen Kuban, Society, Master Naturalists, North America — Locations: Texas, Dallas, Dinosaur, Kuban, Dinosaur Valley, North America, ”, Iraq

"Tourism has been on the slow burner for decades in the Darien," said longtime Panamanian tour guide Rick Morales. Tourists and migrants rarely meet face to face; the routes are almost always separated by dozens of miles. Reuters GraphicsTrip advertising does not mention the humanitarian crisis. At the same time, it acknowledged a "catastrophic humanitarian crisis" in a separate part of the Darien due to migration. Travel Darien Panama is an Indigenous-owned tour operator that says on its website it aims to help fund schools and improve living conditions in their village.

Persons: Franca Ramirez, Ramirez, Rick Morales, Marco Wanske, Kisbel Garcia, Alejandra Peña, Luis Eguiluz, Lorri Krebs, Mark Fischer, Morales, Carmelita Cansari, Nina Van Maris, Van Maris, Daina Beth Solomon, Laura Gottesdiener, Elida Moreno, Stephen Eisenhammer, Claudia Parsons Organizations: MEXICO CITY, Pan, Organization for Migration, Reuters, Tourists, Reuters Graphics, Adventure Travel Trade Association . Social, REUTERS, UNESCO, Salem State University, Tourism Ministry, U.S ., U.S, U.S . State Department, Big, Maria, Thomson Locations: MEXICO, Panamanian, Venezuela, Darien, Panama, Americas, United States, Mexico, Alaska, Argentina, Afghanistan, Africa, U.S, selfies, Ecuador, Haiti, Acandi, Colombia, Central America, Salem , Massachusetts, Greece, Texas, Travel Darien Panama, Luxembourg, Mexico City, Monterrey, Panama City, Maria Laguna

☆ Sonic world of animals: Listen to an extinct bird's mating call
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

What’s sometimes lost in this feast for the eyes is the sonic world of animals — audible to humans in the case of birdsong. Source: British Library“Animals: Art, Science and Sound” showcases the British Library’s wildlife collection, which contains over 250,000 recordings of animals from around the world. Source: British LibraryThe species was declared extinct in 2000. The song of a nightingale Published by the Gramophone Company Ltd. in 1910, it was the first published recording of any animal. Source: British LibraryThe groundbreaking release marked the beginning of commercial wildlife recording that culminated in the 1970s.

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