Each night, small groups of a species called velvety free-tail bats emerge from their roosts in the Panamanian rainforests to hunt for their insect prey, using echolocation. “When bats are hunting, especially when they’re in open areas, they produce two really distinct call types. They have their “search-phase” calls when they’re just scanning the environment, […]

By Donna Lu Ochlerotatus detritus, one of the mosquitoes capable of spreading Zika virus that is already common in temperate regionsLesley Wood Photography Rising temperatures due to climate change may lead to the spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus to currently cooler regions. Under the most drastic model of global warming, by 2080 the risk […]

Enlarge / Example of how your furry friend may react to your automated pet feeder being offline. Not pictured: Insistent, deeply annoyed meowing. It has not been a good year for customers of Petnet’s cloud-connected automated pet-feeder system. After a rough spring, with multiple prolonged service outages, the company tried a last-ditch plea to its […]

A notorious hacker who made an estimated $1.5 million by stealing information from more than 300 companies and governments in 44 countries has been identified as a 37-year-old man from Kazakhstan.  Known as Fxmsp, the hacker became famous in 2019 when he advertised access and source code for leading cybersecurity companies, amid claims that he […]

Samsung’s next big Unpacked event is scheduled for August 5. As is the trend these days, the unveiling will be online-only, following in the footsteps of big virtual events from the likes of Microsoft and Apple. It’s Samsung’s first crack at the format. The company just made it under the pre-COVID-19 shutdown wire back in […]

Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge: Samsung announces its next Galaxy Unpacked event for August 5, to be held virtually, where the Galaxy Note 20 lineup and Galaxy Fold’s successor are expected  —  Time for a new Galaxy Unpacked event  —  Samsung has announced that its next Galaxy Unpacked event will take place on Wednesday, August […]

At the end of the last ice age, Indigenous miners in what is now the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico risked life and limb — venturing into pitch dark caves illuminated only by fire — to extract a prized mineral, a new study finds. That mineral wasn’t gold or diamonds, but red ochre, a valuable crayon-like pigment […]

The scientific debate over evidence that the coronavirus can float in the air for extended periods of time is intensifying. The World Health Organization has repeatedly downplayed the importance of such airborne transmission, instead emphasizing, with substantial evidence, the risks of close contact with infected people.  But now, over 200 experts have signed an open […]

The number of U.S. homes that face repeated flooding has grown significantly in the past decade despite federal and state agencies spending billions of dollars to protect at-risk properties, a new government report shows. The U.S. Government Accountability Office found that government programs that move homes out of floodplains or fortify them through elevation or […]