Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.For knife-toothed kukri snakes, the tastiest parts of a frog are its organs, preferably sliced out of the body cavity and eaten while the frog is still alive. After observing this grisly habit in Thailand, scientists have spotted two more kukri snake species that feast on the organs of living frogs and toads.The new (and gory) observations suggested that this behavior is more widespread in this snake group than expected. Two snakes also eventually swallowed their prey...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.For knife-toothed kukri snakes, the tastiest parts of a frog are its organs, preferably sliced out of the body cavity and eaten while the frog is still alive. After observing this grisly habit in Thailand, scientists have spotted two more kukri snake species that feast on the organs of living frogs and toads.The new (and gory) observations suggested that this behavior is more widespread in this snake group than expected. Two snakes also eventually swallowed their prey...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Six decades after its discovery, the first black hole ever detected is still causing astronomers to scratch their heads. It turns out that the cosmic behemoth at the heart of the Cygnus X-1 system is 50% more massive than previously thought, making it the heaviest stellar-mass black hole ever observed directly.Based on new observations, an international team of researchers estimate the black hole is 21 times the mass of our sun and spinning faster than any other known...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Six decades after its discovery, the first black hole ever detected is still causing astronomers to scratch their heads. It turns out that the cosmic behemoth at the heart of the Cygnus X-1 system is 50% more massive than previously thought, making it the heaviest stellar-mass black hole ever observed directly.Based on new observations, an international team of researchers estimate the black hole is 21 times the mass of our sun and spinning faster than any other known...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.The ocean north of has turned into an "alphabet soup" of broken icebergs, according to a new blog post on NASA's.In a satellite photo snapped on Feb. 11, 2021, the jagged outlines of 11 fractured icebergs swirl around a remote, penguin-filled island called South Georgia, located about 940 miles (1,500 kilometers) northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula.Each frozen chunk is a piece of the once-mighty iceberg A-68a, which held the title of for more than three years before a...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.The ocean north of has turned into an "alphabet soup" of broken icebergs, according to a new blog post on NASA's.In a satellite photo snapped on Feb. 11, 2021, the jagged outlines of 11 fractured icebergs swirl around a remote, penguin-filled island called South Georgia, located about 940 miles (1,500 kilometers) northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula.Each frozen chunk is a piece of the once-mighty iceberg A-68a, which held the title of for more than three years before a...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Archaeologists in South Carolina have uncovered the remnants of a 1920s-era still that may have been run by one of Al Capone's criminal associates.While digging in a wooded region known as "Hell Hole Swamp" (part of South Carolina's Francis Marion National Forest) outside Charlottesville, the researchers discovered a metal barrel, a green garden hose, cinder blocks and various pieces of scrap metal, according to South Carolina's.Despite their motley appearance, these...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Archaeologists in South Carolina have uncovered the remnants of a 1920s-era still that may have been run by one of Al Capone's criminal associates.While digging in a wooded region known as "Hell Hole Swamp" (part of South Carolina's Francis Marion National Forest) outside Charlottesville, the researchers discovered a metal barrel, a green garden hose, cinder blocks and various pieces of scrap metal, according to South Carolina's.Despite their motley appearance, these...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This GIF shows the motion of Farfarout, highlighted, between Jan. 15 and Jan. 16 2018, as seen with the Subaru telescope.(Image: © Scott S. Sheppard/Carnegie Institution for Science)Astronomers have identified the most distant known object in our solar system —  a dwarf planet nicknamed Farfarout that orbits far beyond Pluto. This remote mini-planet swings so far away from the sun that from Farfarout's perspective Earth and Saturn look like neighbors. With an orbit...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This GIF shows the motion of Farfarout, highlighted, between Jan. 15 and Jan. 16 2018, as seen with the Subaru telescope.(Image: © Scott S. Sheppard/Carnegie Institution for Science)Astronomers have identified the most distant known object in our solar system —  a dwarf planet nicknamed Farfarout that orbits far beyond Pluto. This remote mini-planet swings so far away from the sun that from Farfarout's perspective Earth and Saturn look like neighbors. With an orbit...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.The helmet found at the Sutton Hoo boat grave is one of the most iconic archaeological discoveries ever made in the U.K.(Image: © Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)A medieval ship burial in England that is so impressive and mysterious that it's been compared to the world of the Old English epic "Beowulf" is now captivating viewers of the Netflix drama "The Dig." But who is actually buried at the 1,400-year-old site known as Sutton...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.The helmet found at the Sutton Hoo boat grave is one of the most iconic archaeological discoveries ever made in the U.K.(Image: © Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)A medieval ship burial in England that is so impressive and mysterious that it's been compared to the world of the Old English epic "Beowulf" is now captivating viewers of the Netflix drama "The Dig." But who is actually buried at the 1,400-year-old site known as Sutton...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.China's snapped its first image of Mars as the mission makes its final approach; the probe will enter orbit around the Red Planet in less than a week.The China National Space Administration (CNSA) the image Feb. 5, demonstrating that the powerful, high-resolution camera on the Tianwen-1 spacecraft is working properly.The greyscale image was captured at a distance of 1.36 million miles (2.2 million kilometers) from Mars, according to CNSA.Related: A labeled version of...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.China's snapped its first image of Mars as the mission makes its final approach; the probe will enter orbit around the Red Planet in less than a week.The China National Space Administration (CNSA) the image Feb. 5, demonstrating that the powerful, high-resolution camera on the Tianwen-1 spacecraft is working properly.The greyscale image was captured at a distance of 1.36 million miles (2.2 million kilometers) from Mars, according to CNSA.Related: A labeled version of...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © Shutterstock)People with have a distinguishing feature in their brains: They have fewer astrocytes, a type of star-shaped brain cell, compared with the brains of people without mental health disorders, according to a new study. "Astrocytes are hugely affected in depression" in terms of their cell numbers, study co-author Liam O'Leary, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal, told Live Science. "It has been known...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © Shutterstock)People with have a distinguishing feature in their brains: They have fewer astrocytes, a type of star-shaped brain cell, compared with the brains of people without mental health disorders, according to a new study. "Astrocytes are hugely affected in depression" in terms of their cell numbers, study co-author Liam O'Leary, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal, told Live Science. "It has been known...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.An abandoned boat sits in the water amid dead cypress trees in coastal waters and marsh August 26, 2019 in Venice, Louisiana, in a region already impacted by sea level rise.(Image: © Drew Angerer/Getty Images)Sea levels will probably rise faster than most climate models predict, according to a new study.In 2019, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations scientific body that reports on climate change, said that the global sea-level average...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.An abandoned boat sits in the water amid dead cypress trees in coastal waters and marsh August 26, 2019 in Venice, Louisiana, in a region already impacted by sea level rise.(Image: © Drew Angerer/Getty Images)Sea levels will probably rise faster than most climate models predict, according to a new study.In 2019, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations scientific body that reports on climate change, said that the global sea-level average...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Named after Albert Einstein, the chemical element einsteinium has 99 electrons swirling around its nucleus.(Image: © Shutterstock)Scientists have successfully studied — one of the most elusive and heaviest elements on the — for the first time in decades. The achievement brings chemists closer to discovering the so-called "island of stability," where some of the heftiest and shortest-lived elements are thought to reside.The U.S. Department of Energy first discovered...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Named after Albert Einstein, the chemical element einsteinium has 99 electrons swirling around its nucleus.(Image: © Shutterstock)Scientists have successfully studied — one of the most elusive and heaviest elements on the — for the first time in decades. The achievement brings chemists closer to discovering the so-called "island of stability," where some of the heftiest and shortest-lived elements are thought to reside.The U.S. Department of Energy first discovered...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.A satellite images shows the disintegration of iceberg A68a(Image: © ESA)The has shattered into a dozen pieces, the U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC) reported on Sunday (Jan. 31), bringing the colossal object a few leaps closer to its total destruction. Thousands of local penguins have breathed a sigh of relief.The iceberg, named A-68a, broke off of northern Antarctica's Larsen C Ice Shelf on July 12, 2017, and has been steadily drifting north ever since. While the berg...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.A satellite images shows the disintegration of iceberg A68a(Image: © ESA)The has shattered into a dozen pieces, the U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC) reported on Sunday (Jan. 31), bringing the colossal object a few leaps closer to its total destruction. Thousands of local penguins have breathed a sigh of relief.The iceberg, named A-68a, broke off of northern Antarctica's Larsen C Ice Shelf on July 12, 2017, and has been steadily drifting north ever since. While the berg...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.The Greenland ice sheet is a vast body of ice covering 660,000 square miles (1,710,000 square kilometres), roughly 80% of the surface of Greenland.(Image: © Danita Delimont/Getty Images)Frozen is on track to become significantly less frozen before the 21st century is over. By 2055, winter snowfall on the Greenland Ice Sheet will no longer be enough to replenish the ice that Greenland loses each summer, new research finds.Rising global temperatures are driving this...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.The Greenland ice sheet is a vast body of ice covering 660,000 square miles (1,710,000 square kilometres), roughly 80% of the surface of Greenland.(Image: © Danita Delimont/Getty Images)Frozen is on track to become significantly less frozen before the 21st century is over. By 2055, winter snowfall on the Greenland Ice Sheet will no longer be enough to replenish the ice that Greenland loses each summer, new research finds.Rising global temperatures are driving this...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © Shutterstock)Death is not a linear process. New research finds that it's fairly common for the to restart — usually just for a beat or two — after a person initially flatlines. No one in the study, which took place in intensive care units (ICUs) in three countries, survived or even regained consciousness. The longest gap between someone's heart stopping and restarting again was 4 minutes and 20 seconds. That's an important number, according to study leader...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © Shutterstock)Death is not a linear process. New research finds that it's fairly common for the to restart — usually just for a beat or two — after a person initially flatlines. No one in the study, which took place in intensive care units (ICUs) in three countries, survived or even regained consciousness. The longest gap between someone's heart stopping and restarting again was 4 minutes and 20 seconds. That's an important number, according to study leader...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © Shutterstock)Scientists suspect that the complex life that slithers and crawls through every nook and cranny on Earth emerged from a random shuffling of non-living matter that ultimately spit out the building blocks of life. Even so, the details to support the idea are lacking. But researchers recently got creative in figuring out the probability of life actually emerging spontaneously from such inorganic matter — a process called abiogenesis.In the study,...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © Shutterstock)Scientists suspect that the complex life that slithers and crawls through every nook and cranny on Earth emerged from a random shuffling of non-living matter that ultimately spit out the building blocks of life. Even so, the details to support the idea are lacking. But researchers recently got creative in figuring out the probability of life actually emerging spontaneously from such inorganic matter — a process called abiogenesis.In the study,...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.An illustration shows the Micius satellite and the three ground stations with which it communicates.(Image: © University of Science and Technology of China)Uncrackable messages can now be sent through the air and will soon be beamed into space.Researchers at the University of Science and Technology in China (USTC) worked out in 2018 how to secretly share "quantum keys" between orbiting satellites and ground stations, as . That made the connection between the Chinese...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.An illustration shows the Micius satellite and the three ground stations with which it communicates.(Image: © University of Science and Technology of China)Uncrackable messages can now be sent through the air and will soon be beamed into space.Researchers at the University of Science and Technology in China (USTC) worked out in 2018 how to secretly share "quantum keys" between orbiting satellites and ground stations, as . That made the connection between the Chinese...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This Madagascar chameleon is the world's smallest reptile.(Image: © Frank Glaw)The world's smallest male reptile can fit right on your fingertip — if its massive genitals don't get in its way.Meet Brookesia nana, an extremely tiny species of from the rainforests of northern Madagascar. Researchers recently described one male and one female of the species in a study published Jan. 28 in the journal, and they were stunned by the male's particularly wee dimensions....…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This Madagascar chameleon is the world's smallest reptile.(Image: © Frank Glaw)The world's smallest male reptile can fit right on your fingertip — if its massive genitals don't get in its way.Meet Brookesia nana, an extremely tiny species of from the rainforests of northern Madagascar. Researchers recently described one male and one female of the species in a study published Jan. 28 in the journal, and they were stunned by the male's particularly wee dimensions....WW…

XWe need your consentWe and our partners use technology such as cookies on our site to personalise content and ads, provide social media features, and analyse our traffic. Click below to consent to the use of this technology across the web. Go to our for more information on how we use cookies. You can change your mind and change your consent choices at any time by returning to this site.AcceptRejectLive Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.A previously unknown quantum particle — equivalent to a neutral...…XWe need your consentWe and our partners use technology such as cookies on our site to personalise content and ads, provide social media features, and analyse our traffic. Click below to consent to the use of this technology across the web. Go to our for more information on how we use cookies. You can change your mind and change your consent choices at any time by returning to this site.AcceptRejectLive Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.A previously unknown quantum particle — equivalent to a neutral...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © NASA/JPL-Caltech)Earth's second moon will make a close approach to the planet next week before drifting off into space, never to be seen again."What second moon," you ask? Astronomers call it — a small object that dropped into Earth's orbit about halfway between our planet and the moon in September 2020. Temporary satellites like these are known as minimoons, though calling it a moon is a bit deceptive in this case; in December 2020, NASA researchers learned...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © NASA/JPL-Caltech)Earth's second moon will make a close approach to the planet next week before drifting off into space, never to be seen again."What second moon," you ask? Astronomers call it — a small object that dropped into Earth's orbit about halfway between our planet and the moon in September 2020. Temporary satellites like these are known as minimoons, though calling it a moon is a bit deceptive in this case; in December 2020, NASA researchers learned...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © Shutterstock)If former Vice President Joe Biden gets elected in 2020, he's curing cancer. At least that's what the presidential hopeful promised at a campaign stop in Ottumwa, Iowa, on Tuesday this week."I promise you if I'm elected president, you're going to see the single most important thing that changes America," Biden announced. "We're gonna cure cancer."The crowd cheered in response. But Biden's promise made one cancer expert cringe."Are we going to...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © Shutterstock)If former Vice President Joe Biden gets elected in 2020, he's curing cancer. At least that's what the presidential hopeful promised at a campaign stop in Ottumwa, Iowa, on Tuesday this week."I promise you if I'm elected president, you're going to see the single most important thing that changes America," Biden announced. "We're gonna cure cancer."The crowd cheered in response. But Biden's promise made one cancer expert cringe."Are we going to...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.An illustration shows the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Data from TESS has revealed a sextuple star system less than 2,000 light years from Earth.(Image: © NASA)Ever ridden a teacup ride at a state fair? If so, you might have a small taste of life in a whirling, twirling sextuply-eclipsing sextuple star system."Sextuply-eclipsing sextuple star system" is astronomer-speak for a system with six stars all orbiting each other and all regularly eclipsing one...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.An illustration shows the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Data from TESS has revealed a sextuple star system less than 2,000 light years from Earth.(Image: © NASA)Ever ridden a teacup ride at a state fair? If so, you might have a small taste of life in a whirling, twirling sextuply-eclipsing sextuple star system."Sextuply-eclipsing sextuple star system" is astronomer-speak for a system with six stars all orbiting each other and all regularly eclipsing one...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © European Space Agency)Scientists on the International Space Station spotted a bright-blue lightning bolt shooting upward from thunderclouds.  can be difficult to spot from the ground, since the electrical discharges erupt from the tops of thunderclouds. But from space, scientists can peer down at this cerulean lightshow from above. On Feb. 26, 2019, instruments aboard the space station captured a blue jet shooting out of a thunderstorm cell near Nauru, a...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.(Image: © European Space Agency)Scientists on the International Space Station spotted a bright-blue lightning bolt shooting upward from thunderclouds.  can be difficult to spot from the ground, since the electrical discharges erupt from the tops of thunderclouds. But from space, scientists can peer down at this cerulean lightshow from above. On Feb. 26, 2019, instruments aboard the space station captured a blue jet shooting out of a thunderstorm cell near Nauru, a...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.NASA's New Horizons spacecraft captured this image of the blue haze around the dwarf planet Pluto during its historic flyby in 2015.(Image: © NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI/SPL)The haze shrouding might be made up of ice crystals possessing cyanide hearts, a new study finds.Hazes, which are made of tiny motes of dust, smoke, ice and other substances, are not unique to Earth — scientists have detected hazes enveloping , , and . Nor are hazes limited to planets. Saturn's largest moon...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.NASA's New Horizons spacecraft captured this image of the blue haze around the dwarf planet Pluto during its historic flyby in 2015.(Image: © NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI/SPL)The haze shrouding might be made up of ice crystals possessing cyanide hearts, a new study finds.Hazes, which are made of tiny motes of dust, smoke, ice and other substances, are not unique to Earth — scientists have detected hazes enveloping , , and . Nor are hazes limited to planets. Saturn's largest moon...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This NASA illustration depicts an O'Neill Cylinder: a floating human habitat orbiting an alien planet. A new paper proposes building a mega-colony of them around the dwarf planet, Ceres.(Image: © Rick Guidice courtesy of NASA)Now more than ever, space agencies and starry-eyed billionaires have their minds fixed on finding a new home for humanity beyond Earth's orbit. is an obvious candidate, given its relatively close proximity, 24-hour day/night cycle and -rich...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This NASA illustration depicts an O'Neill Cylinder: a floating human habitat orbiting an alien planet. A new paper proposes building a mega-colony of them around the dwarf planet, Ceres.(Image: © Rick Guidice courtesy of NASA)Now more than ever, space agencies and starry-eyed billionaires have their minds fixed on finding a new home for humanity beyond Earth's orbit. is an obvious candidate, given its relatively close proximity, 24-hour day/night cycle and -rich...WW…

XWe need your consentWe and our partners use technology such as cookies on our site to personalise content and ads, provide social media features, and analyse our traffic. Click below to consent to the use of this technology across the web. Go to our for more information on how we use cookies. You can change your mind and change your consent choices at any time by returning to this site.AcceptRejectLive Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.More than 400 light-years from Earth, there is a cluster of young...…XWe need your consentWe and our partners use technology such as cookies on our site to personalise content and ads, provide social media features, and analyse our traffic. Click below to consent to the use of this technology across the web. Go to our for more information on how we use cookies. You can change your mind and change your consent choices at any time by returning to this site.AcceptRejectLive Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.More than 400 light-years from Earth, there is a cluster of young...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This drawing shows how the dinosaur Psittacosaurus may have used its cloacal vent (aka butthole) for signaling during courtship.(Image: © Bob Nicholls/Paleocreations.com 2020)The first dinosaur butthole ever discovered is shedding light where the sun don't shine. The discovery reveals how used this multipurpose opening — scientifically known as a cloacal vent — for pooping, peeing, breeding and egg laying. The dinosaur's derrière is so well preserved, researchers could...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.This drawing shows how the dinosaur Psittacosaurus may have used its cloacal vent (aka butthole) for signaling during courtship.(Image: © Bob Nicholls/Paleocreations.com 2020)The first dinosaur butthole ever discovered is shedding light where the sun don't shine. The discovery reveals how used this multipurpose opening — scientifically known as a cloacal vent — for pooping, peeing, breeding and egg laying. The dinosaur's derrière is so well preserved, researchers could...WW…