Brisbane, Australia CNN – The discovery of a tiny lost radioactive capsule beside a remote highway in Western Australia raises many questions – not least how it escaped layers of radiation-proof packaging loaded onto a moving truck. It’s one of the many puzzling aspects of a case investigators will examine in the coming weeks as … Read more
CNN – The United States spends more on health care than any other high-income country but still has the lowest life expectancy at birth and the highest rate of people with multiple chronic diseases, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund, an independent research group. The report, released Tuesday, also says that compared … Read more
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advances and more. CNN – No other animal is as inexorably linked with extinction as the dodo, an odd-looking flightless bird that lived on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean until the late 17th century. The … Read more
CNN – A new paper adds to the mounting evidence that school-age children across the globe experienced significant setbacks in their learning progress during the Covid-19 pandemic. Students “lost out on about 35% of a normal school year’s worth of learning” when in-person learning stopped during the public health crisis, according to a paper published … Read more
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advances and more. CNN – On the Galapagos Islands, a ground finch that usually munched on small, soft seeds was forced, during a drought, to eat harder, larger ones. Within the space of a few generations, the bird … Read more
A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. CNN – The Arctic was once a surprisingly warm place – and a haven for unusual creatures. About 56 million years ago, Earth began experiencing a global warming event. Temperature differences between … Read more
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advances and more. CNN – From pointing to animated arm movements and nodding, people regularly employ gestures to accompany and create language. Now, it’s been suggested that humans can also understand sign language used by apes, meaning humans … Read more
CNN – “If something happens to me, don’t cry,” Leonardo Hancco told his wife, Ruth Barcena, the morning of December 15 in Peru’s southern city of Ayacucho. The 32-year-old taxi driver and father of a seven-year-old girl had decided to join Peru’s nationwide political protests at the last minute. “If I have decided to join … Read more
Sign up for CNN’s Life, But Greener newsletter. Our limited newsletter series guides you on how to minimize your personal role in the climate crisis — and reduce your eco-anxiety. CNN – The Doomsday Clock has been ticking for exactly 75 years. But it’s no ordinary clock. It attempts to gauge how close humanity is … Read more
A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. CNN – To pry open the mysteries of our planet’s past, scientists typically study rocks and fossilized bones. Eggs are an often overlooked but extremely rich source of information, with birds, reptiles, … Read more