Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .The rotting body of a dead Amazon "river monster" recently washed ashore in Florida, raising concerns about whether this gigantic predatory fish has joined the Sunshine State's ever-growing list of invasive species, according to news sources.But although it might thrive in Florida's warm waters, this fish, known as the arapaima (Arapaima gigas) — a sizable creature that can grow to be 10 feet (3 meters) long and up to 440 lbs. (200 kilograms), according to a 2019...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .The rotting body of a dead Amazon "river monster" recently washed ashore in Florida, raising concerns about whether this gigantic predatory fish has joined the Sunshine State's ever-growing list of invasive species, according to news sources.But although it might thrive in Florida's warm waters, this fish, known as the arapaima (Arapaima gigas) — a sizable creature that can grow to be 10 feet (3 meters) long and up to 440 lbs. (200 kilograms), according to a 2019...WW…

Space is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .Earth is a sphere, so how can it be accurately portrayed on a 2D map? Simply flatten into two pancakes, one depicting the Northern Hemisphere and the other the Southern, with the equator running around the edge, a new study finds.These two "pancakes" represent the most accurate flat map of Earth ever made, the study researchers said. Unlike other flat maps, the new circular map doesn't downsize or supersize the area of certain oceans or landmasses — for instance, many 2D...…Space is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .Earth is a sphere, so how can it be accurately portrayed on a 2D map? Simply flatten into two pancakes, one depicting the Northern Hemisphere and the other the Southern, with the equator running around the edge, a new study finds.These two "pancakes" represent the most accurate flat map of Earth ever made, the study researchers said. Unlike other flat maps, the new circular map doesn't downsize or supersize the area of certain oceans or landmasses — for instance, many 2D...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .The first dinosaur butthole ever discovered is shedding light where the sun don't shine. The discovery reveals how used this multipurpose opening — scientifically known as a cloacal vent — for pooping, peeing, breeding and egg laying. The dinosaur's derrière is so well preserved, researchers could see the remnants of two small bulges by its "back door," which might have housed musky scent glands that the reptile possibly used during courtship — an anatomical...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .The first dinosaur butthole ever discovered is shedding light where the sun don't shine. The discovery reveals how used this multipurpose opening — scientifically known as a cloacal vent — for pooping, peeing, breeding and egg laying. The dinosaur's derrière is so well preserved, researchers could see the remnants of two small bulges by its "back door," which might have housed musky scent glands that the reptile possibly used during courtship — an anatomical...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .A seemingly dull marble slab, used for 10 years as a stepping stone in an English garden, is actually a rare ancient Roman engraving, a new analysis finds. The discovery surprised its owner, who learned that the 25-inch-long (63 centimeters) slab — a stone she had previously used as a stair while mounting her — dated to the second century A.D. and was worth about $20,400 (£15,000). However, no one knows how the marble masterpiece ended up in England. It was...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .A seemingly dull marble slab, used for 10 years as a stepping stone in an English garden, is actually a rare ancient Roman engraving, a new analysis finds. The discovery surprised its owner, who learned that the 25-inch-long (63 centimeters) slab — a stone she had previously used as a stair while mounting her — dated to the second century A.D. and was worth about $20,400 (£15,000). However, no one knows how the marble masterpiece ended up in England. It was...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .A geyser hiding under recently reawakened. But don't worry: That doesn't mean the supervolcano beneath the park will erupt soon, a new study finds. In March 2018, following a 3.5-year-long nap, suddenly erupted, spewing steam, mud, sand and rocks into the air. The previously dormant geyser erupted 32 times in 2018, a record-breaking 48 times in 2019 and another 48 times in 2020 (its previous record of 29 eruptions was set in 1964), the (Jan. 4). Some...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .A geyser hiding under recently reawakened. But don't worry: That doesn't mean the supervolcano beneath the park will erupt soon, a new study finds. In March 2018, following a 3.5-year-long nap, suddenly erupted, spewing steam, mud, sand and rocks into the air. The previously dormant geyser erupted 32 times in 2018, a record-breaking 48 times in 2019 and another 48 times in 2020 (its previous record of 29 eruptions was set in 1964), the (Jan. 4). Some...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .Archaeologists in Israel have unearthed a 3,800-year-old jar that contains something surprising — the skeleton of a baby.Though such infant burials are not so uncommon, it's a mystery why the infants were buried in this way, said Yoav Arbel, an Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist who was part of the team that found the jar."You might go to the practical thing and say that the bodies were so fragile, [maybe] they felt the need to protect it from the...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .Archaeologists in Israel have unearthed a 3,800-year-old jar that contains something surprising — the skeleton of a baby.Though such infant burials are not so uncommon, it's a mystery why the infants were buried in this way, said Yoav Arbel, an Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist who was part of the team that found the jar."You might go to the practical thing and say that the bodies were so fragile, [maybe] they felt the need to protect it from the...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .Just before going into a hallucinogenic trance, Indigenous Californians who had gathered in a cave likely looked up toward the rocky ceiling, where a pinwheel and big-eyed moth were painted in red. This mysterious "pinwheel," is likely a depiction of the delicate, white flower of Datura wrightii, a powerful hallucinogen that the Chumash people took not only for ceremonial purposes but also for medicinal and supernatural ones, according to a new study. The moth...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .Just before going into a hallucinogenic trance, Indigenous Californians who had gathered in a cave likely looked up toward the rocky ceiling, where a pinwheel and big-eyed moth were painted in red. This mysterious "pinwheel," is likely a depiction of the delicate, white flower of Datura wrightii, a powerful hallucinogen that the Chumash people took not only for ceremonial purposes but also for medicinal and supernatural ones, according to a new study. The moth...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .In what may be one of the weirdest animal mash-ups, scientists have found the 68 million-year-old fossilized skull of an early bird with a -like face and a toucan-like beak, a new study finds. This crow-size bird lived in northwestern Madagascar during the , when walked the Earth. And its bizarre beaky face made it one of a kind."Birds from the Mesozoic [the dinosaur era], or any time for that matter, do not have faces built like this," study co-researcher...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .In what may be one of the weirdest animal mash-ups, scientists have found the 68 million-year-old fossilized skull of an early bird with a -like face and a toucan-like beak, a new study finds. This crow-size bird lived in northwestern Madagascar during the , when walked the Earth. And its bizarre beaky face made it one of a kind."Birds from the Mesozoic [the dinosaur era], or any time for that matter, do not have faces built like this," study co-researcher...WW…

Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .An will get awfully close to this Thursday (Sept. 24), when it whizzes by our planet closer than the moon orbits.The asteroid — known as 2020 SW — isn't expected to collide with Earth, (CNEOS) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. But it will get close, passing about 16,700 miles (27,000 kilometers) away from Earth, .To put this in perspective, the moon hangs out at an average of (384,000 km) from us, or about 30 Earths away. This asteroid will...…Live Science is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. .An will get awfully close to this Thursday (Sept. 24), when it whizzes by our planet closer than the moon orbits.The asteroid — known as 2020 SW — isn't expected to collide with Earth, (CNEOS) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. But it will get close, passing about 16,700 miles (27,000 kilometers) away from Earth, .To put this in perspective, the moon hangs out at an average of (384,000 km) from us, or about 30 Earths away. This asteroid will...WW…