• Maui residents showed elevated metal burdens months after 2023 wildfires

    ByReet Kaur

    A study of 1 400 Maui adults found unusually high urinary concentrations of several metals 6–18 months after the August 2023 wildfires, while participants with greater combined metal burdens were more likely to have abnormal lung-function tests. Antimony showed the largest difference, at nearly 40 times U.S. reference values, but the researchers caution that the study identifies statistical associations and cannot determine how much of the measured burden came directly from the fires.

  • Crocodilian fossil from the Sphinx’s rock formation reveals a different evolutionary history

    ByReet Kaur

    A crocodilian fossil collected in Egypt nearly a century ago has been assigned to a new genus after researchers found that it was not closely related to the living false gharial, as its original classification had implied. The reclassification identifies a separate branch of long-snouted crocodilians that inhabited the ancient Mediterranean about 45 million years ago, adding evidence of a more diverse prehistoric ecosystem.

  • First-of-its-kind deep-Earth conductivity map reveals ancient continental fragments beneath the United States

    ByRishav Kothari

    A first-of-its-kind continent-scale conductivity map made using over 1 700 magnetotelluric stations deployed across the United States has revealed buried tectonic fragments beneath eastern North America, allowing researchers to reconstruct the continent’s deep electrical structure while exposing conductive regions linked to ancient continental collisions, mineral systems, and geomagnetic storm hazard propagation.

  • Heat waves and cold waves increase risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular issues

    ByRishav Kothari

    A study of more than 8 million people found that heat waves trigger immediate increases in cardiovascular events, while cold waves produce delayed effects over several days. The analysis, covering 2011 to 2020, recorded significant increases in cardiovascular deaths and major adverse events under both temperature extremes.

  • Ancient Mesoamerican builders shaped a cosmic city in Mexico 3 000 years ago

    ByReet Kaur

    Archaeologists in southeastern Mexico uncovered a vast ceremonial complex at Aguada Fénix, dating to about 1 000 B.C. The site measures nearly 1.4 km (0.9 miles) long, 400 metres (0.25 miles) wide, and 9–15 m (30–50 ft) high, making it the oldest and largest known monument in the Maya region.