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The American bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was once on the brink of extinction in North America. As a result of concerted conservation efforts, including the elimination of use of the pesticide DDT in the United States in 1972, the bald…

The taxonomic classification of whales continues to evolve as marine biologists glean new insights from investigations of the largest of all animals on Earth. Two recent whale discoveries—one concerning a new species, and the other dealing with…

The field of vaccination has been enhanced significantly by the successful development of two approved vaccines based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technologies. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that spread from China in 2019 to the rest of the world in…

The fossil record of sharks (members of the subclass Elasmobranchii within the class Chondrichthyes, or cartilaginous fishes) dates back more than 420 million years. Over the course of this time, sharks have been among the top predators found in the…

After a 203-day journey covering 472 million kilometers (293 million miles), NASA's Perseverance rover successfully landed on Mars on February 18, 2021. Perseverance is the largest and most sophisticated machine to ever land on another world.…

On April 7, 2021, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that a genetic variant of SARS-CoV-2—the coronavirus that causes COVID-19—that was initially identified in the United Kingdom is the dominant form of the virus…

In response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic—which has dramatically affected the entire world, causing high morbidity, mortality, and massive social and economic disruption—and in addition to finding efficacious treatments for…

Researchers at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA, have developed a virus catcher of sorts—that is, a sticky and absorbent surface coating that traps droplets and aerosols (microdroplets) that land on the coating. Most often, fine…

An investigation of 890-million-year-old limestone rocks excavated from the mountains of Canada's Northwest Territories has revealed possible evidence of the oldest animal life on Earth. Prior to this study, the oldest undisputed fossils of animal…

With a fossil record dating to the start of the Mesozoic era, approximately 250 million years ago, the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) is the sole extant representative of the reptilian order Rhynchocephalia. This unique reptile has an unusually long…