(Natural News) There are rocky exoplanets around the size of Earth that lie within a few light-years of the solar system. While these relatively nearby worlds receive intense radiation from their active stars, they might eventually bear alien life – if they haven’t already done so. These planets lie well within the habitable zone of […]

(Natural News) Our planet is drowning in plastic and the pollution it causes. This once useful material is now literally everywhere, surrounding us at work, in our homes, at school and at parks, lakes and beaches. Nobody could have predicted when Leo Baekeland created the world’s first fully synthetic resin-based plastic product back in 1907 […]

(Natural News) Marine salvagers got a welcome surprise when their sonar picked up an anomaly on the shallow seafloor of the North Sea recently. What they initially mistook for a shipping container turned out to be a sunken Dutch wooden sailing ship from the 16th century. Even better, the 500-year-old shipwreck held tons of copper. […]

(Natural News) Gastrointestinal health relies on maintaining plenty of beneficial bacteria while keeping the numbers of harmful ones in check. Singaporean researchers warned about a particular gut microbe that might disrupt the composition of good bacteria. The gut contains trillions of microorganisms. Bacteria comprise most of the gut microbiota, but single-celled organisms and viruses are also present […]

(Natural News) Nearly 13,000 years ago, Earth’s Northern Hemisphere got clobbered by a fragmenting comet. New evidence found by University of California Santa Barbara researchers suggested that the extreme impact event also affected the weather and ecology of the Southern Hemisphere. The Younger Dryas Boundary (YDB) Impact Hypothesis proposed that the comet strike triggered climate […]

(Natural News) The spinal cord displays more capability than most people give it credit for. A new study reported that this structure directly controls complicated motor functions in the arm. The spinal cord runs down the length of the spine. It is a large and important part of the central nervous system. In humans, its neural circuits govern the pain reflex. In […]

(Natural News) Researchers from Northwestern University in Chicago conducted a pilot study that tested the effectiveness of transcranial magnetic stimulation for the prevention of age-related memory decline. The results, published in an online issue of Neurology on April 17, 2019, suggest that memory can be enhanced temporarily using magnetic fields. The magnetic fields purportedly stimulate […]

(Natural News) Most termites don’t deserve the bad reputation meant for the few species that are actual pests. An international study found that the insects actually help preserve tropical rainforests during periods of drought. Termites thrive in tropical regions with plenty of cellulose-rich plants that they can digest. The “sheeting” structures they construct above ground let them travel through the rainforest in safety even […]

(Natural News) German researchers took cues from bones when developing their new open-cell metal foams. Not only are the new materials incredibly light, they also have the strength to withstand the impact of vehicular accidents and even an explosion. The Saarland University team applied their coating process to a lattice substrate of aluminum or polymer […]

(Natural News) Researchers have found evidence that a massive solar storm enveloped Earth 2,600 years ago. Now, they warn that similar space weather phenomena of the same magnitude could happen again. Since the last such event in 1859, humans have come to rely on electricity. Another solar storm of that size and power would cause […]