Division of Historic Services
Today we’re going to conclude our miniseries about the history of life on Earth by talking about the Cenozoic era, from 65 million years ago to the present. Cenozoic means “recent animals,” which makes sense, since it’s the era we’re still in. During the Cenozoic, animals and plants and everything else evolved to the forms …
There are a lot of ways to kill and be killed in the animal kingdom, but only a lucky few use the powers of venom. This toxic tribe includes species of snakes, spiders, scorpions, snails, jellyfish, bees, and even a few weirdo mammals. Clearly, not all of these animals are closely related, so how did …
The dead coming back to life sounds scary. But for scientists, it can be a wonderful opportunity. Of course, we’re not talking about zombies. Rather, this particular opportunity came in the unlikely form of large, slow-moving fish called the coelacanth. This oddity dates back 360 million years, and was believed to have died out during …
♩ No matter where you go, you have to carry around this meatsack of a body. So of course, over the years, humans have tried to figure out how our bodies work — and how things can go wrong, like with diseases. And yes, sometimes we’ve been completely off base. But that’s with the benefit …
ACTION BRAINIAC Did you know that you spend up to three years of your lifetime on the toilet? The average person will spend one-and-a-half years in their life in the bathroom Women spend an average of one year seven months and fifteen days longer in the bathroom men. However, men spend more time on the …
The Joker is one of the most iconic and popular villains in history. And we’re not just referring to the history of comic books when we say that – Batman’s arch-enemy stands up alongside the likes of Professor Moriarty, Darth Vader, The Wicked Witch of the West, Cruella de Vil and the Devil himself as …
Is there life on Mars? Has there ever been? These questions have inspired science and science fiction alike. But a mission, led by the European and Russian Space Agencies, might finally reveal what really lies beneath the surface of the Red Planet. We’ve been sending missions to Mars since the 1960s to find out what, …
*mouse clicks* *mouse clicks* *mouse clicks* *piano music plays* Channel 2.0(2009-2011) Cosmic Panda(2012) One Channel (2013-Present) *song slowly fades out*
Ice in its varied forms covers as much as 16% of Earth’s surface, including 33% of land areas at the height of the northern winter. Glaciers, sea ice, permafrost, ice sheets and snow play an important role in Earth’s climate. They reflect energy back to space, shape ocean currents, and spawn weather patterns. But there …
Consciousness is perhaps the biggest riddle in nature. Stripped to its core meaning, consciousness is what allows us to be aware both of our surroundings and of our own inner state. But thinking about consciousness has this habit of taking us round in circles. We all intuitively know what consciousness is. It’s this… It’s what …