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And Now, A Pair Of Playful Brown Bear Cubs  

On April 4, young brown bears play in one of two large enclosures at Kuterevo Bear Refuge in central Croatia. The shelter was founded in 2002 by retired social worker Ivan Crnkovic-Pavenka; it’s staffed largely by volunteers and currently hosts eight bears, all of which were orphaned as cubs. AP Photo by Amel Emric

Researchers Are Scanning Forests With Lasers to Monitor Their Health

It looks like a work of art, but the image shown above is the 3D structure of an actual forest, reconstructed from sophisticated laser scans that scientists now hope can be used to quickly check a forest’s vital signs. Kinda like a tricorder IRL. A research team based in Hungary and Vienna is fine-tuning an…

Bald Eagles have returned to nest in New York City! NYC Audubon announced on Friday that the city’s first active Bald Eagle pair in 100 years has taken up residence on Staten Island, an encouraging sign for a species that was once nearly extinct. Fun fact: “Local birders have named the male Vito.”

FBI’s Ocean’s Eleven Ruse Went “Too Far,” Judge Says

On Friday, a federal judge ruled that FBI agents had gone too far last summer when they cut off the Internet service to Paul Phua’s Las Vegas hotel room, posed as repairmen, and entered the room without a search warrant. According to NBC News, the FBI received a tip last July that Phua, a 50-year…

The Star Wars Teaser Trailer Has Added $2 Billion to Disney’s Value

The new Star Wars teaser trailer is so awesome, it’s already given Disney’s stock a $2 billion boost, indicating the excitement among investors (nerds) over the upcoming movie. And this is just the beginning. Analysts are already saying we could witness a repeat of A New Hope’s 1977 box-office-obliterating success when Star Wars: The Force…

A Cliff Swallow Hangs Out In Its Mud Nest, Thinking Deep Thoughts

Photographer Don DeBold spotted this intense-looking Cliff Swallow at the Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Preserve, a nearly 2,000 acre marshland on the San Francisco Bay that’s been called one of the West Coast’s best birdwatching spots.

Sony Hack Reveals Intent to Acquire Super Smash Bros. Film Rights

Included in the deluge of Sony executive emails, memos, PDFs and presentations released on WikiLeaks earlier this week is one little nugget that will warm your inner child’s heart: Sony may be trying to nab film rights to the Super Smash Bros. series. On Thursday, WikiLeaks unveiled a new portal for the entire archive of…

Here’s A Cute Teaser For Netflix’s How To Train Your Dragon Series

DreamWorks’ Dragons: Race to the Edge hits Netflix June 26; Hiccup and Toothless lead the charge, of course, but all kinds of new dragons will also be added into the mix. [Via Bleeding Cool]

Zombie Worms Feasted On The Bones of Ancient Marine Reptiles

There’d be a lot more plesiosaurs in the fossil record, if it wasn’t for all the damn zombie worms. At least, that’s one interpretation of a new study which shows that Osedax, better known as the zombie worm, devoured the bones of marine reptiles 100 million years ago. Osedax is a fascinating (horrifying) creature that…

NASA Says Nobody’s Getting to Mars Without Its Help

NASA really wants humans make it to Mars, and it also really wants to be the one that gets us there. In fact, NASA administrator Charles Bolden went so far as to say that “No commercial company without the support of NASA and government is going to get to Mars.” Bolden made the blunt statement…

Scientists Map The Dark Matter Around Millions Of Galaxies

This week, scientists with the Dark Energy Survey (DES) collaboration released the first in a series of detailed maps charting the distribution of dark matter inferred from its gravitational effects. The new maps confirm current theories that suggest galaxies will form where large concentrations of dark matter exist. The first Dark Energy Survey map to…

This Shape-Shifting Sofa Stacks Itself Like Suitcases

If you already loved rearranging furniture, this shapeshifting sofa will take your addiction to a whole new level. At the Milan 2015 Furniture Fair this week, French designer Matali Crasset debuted her latest creation, which she dubs “The Self Made Seat.” (I like “The Optimus Prime of Sofas”, myself.) As you can see, this clever…

Mosasaurus Grabs A Shark Snack In Latest Jurassic World Poster

My, what big teeth you have! Here’s the newest Jurassic World poster, released ahead of the new trailer which drops on Monday. It depicts Mosasaurus, “the immense seagoing lizard,” swimming up to nibble on what would normally be a pretty scary-looking shark, but here kinda resembles a Goldfish cracker.

First Look At Another Clone Wars Character Coming To Rebels

This just in from Star Wars Celebration’s Star Wars Rebels panel: the next season of Disney XD’s animated series will bring back a character from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Here’s what we know so far, with the season 2 trailer included below! Via an IGN report: Captain Rex appeared, grey-bearded and flanked by two…

FBI Accosts Security Researcher Over Fear That He Hacked His Flight

When airport security researcher Chris Roberts tweeted about his ability to hack the in-cabin control systems aboard his Boeing 747 flight, he probably wasn’t anticipating the quip would get him detained by the Feds. Only some jokes, the FBI doesn’t find very funny. The tweet may be rather meaningless to the average Joe, but the…

The Force Is Strong With This Gallery Of Star Wars Celebration Cosplay

As the Star Wars Celebration convention parties in Anaheim, that means one thing: A whole lot of beautiful Star Wars-themed cosplay. We’ve seen some seriously impressive Star Wars deep cuts here, along with a couple clever mashups from the galaxy far, far away. Check out our favorite costumes, so far. Photograph by Davann Photograph by…

The Guardian has an in-depth profile of Joss Whedon today, in which the Avengers director sounds exhausted, but still inspired: “The first question we always ask is: ‘What is the way in for someone who has never seen a superhero movie?’ You need to be thinking about everybody all the time.”

This Is What A Forest Elephant Looked Like 200,000 Years Ago

Exhibition director Peter Luckner readies a 13-foot-tall model of a straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) for “Fossil Richness in the Geisel Valley,” on display in the Pfaennerhall Factory in Braunsbedra, central Germany. This type of forest elephant roamed the Geisel Valley some 200,000 years ago. AP Photo by Jens Meyer

A Remote Amazonian Tribe Harbors Unprecedented Microbial Diversity

The trillions of bacteria that live on us and in us—otherwise known as our microbiomes—are vital to our health in ways we’re just beginning to understand. Now scientists have discovered the most diverse collection of bodily bacteria ever, in a remote Amazonian tribe of southern Venezuela. The study, which appeared yesterday in the journal Science…

A Self-Inflating, Self-Propelled, Stand-Up Paddleboard

With spring coming late on the heels of a brutal winter, it’s hard to believe that summer is right around the corner. Still, in a few short months it’ll be plenty warm enough to take your self-inflating, self-propelled paddleboard out for a spin on the water. Uh, say again? This high tech board, whose Kickstarter…