Giants that vanished 10,000 years ago triggered ripple effects that are still felt today, and here’s where
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Updates every hour. Last Updated: 1-May-2026 02:15 ET (1-May-2026 06:15 GMT/UTC)
Between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago, many of the world’s largest mammals disappeared. Picture creatures like saber-toothed cats with 7-inch fangs and elephant-sized sloths. A new study reveals how their disappearance fundamentally reshaped food webs for the species that remain today, and why the changes were more pronounced in some parts of the world than others, particularly in the Americas.
Scientists built a new theoretical model that learns from interactions. Positive interactions strengthened connections, and negative interactions weakened connections. Model revealed that strong connections can lead to feedback loops and echo chambers. Findings extend to diverse spreading systems, from social ideas to infections to animal behavior to neural signals.
Scientists have captured the most detailed structural images to date of a specific type of protein’s DNA repair process, a finding that could reveal ways to inhibit the effects of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations that heighten the risk for breast, ovarian and other cancers.
Researchers chemically combined a chiral semiconducting material with a non-chiral molecule that more readily absorbs visible light. The result is a new material system that can both absorb visible light and distinguish between left- and right-handed light waves, opening new possibilities for optoelectronic technologies.
As cities sprawl into suburbs and exurbs, the distinction between urban areas and the countryside has become increasingly blurry. A new paper published in npj Urban Sustainability proposes that many modern landscapes can be managed more holistically when they are understood as a mixture of urban, rural, and wild features.
Data from Fitbits show that changing time twice a year does not affect people’s overall step counts but does impact when they are getting their steps in.