explainer Biology
How long does a horse live? Typical lifespan, ponies and the oldest horse
Most horses live 25 to 30 years and a few pass 40, yet many die much younger. Ponies vs horses, the 62-year record, human-year maths and ageing by teeth.
Latest from SciQuestEvidence-led science
explainer Earth
How cold is Everest? Summit and Base Camp temperatures by season
How cold is Everest? The summit averages about −35 °C in winter and −18 °C in July, by our station-based estimate. Base Camp, wind…
explainer Chemistry
How cold is liquid nitrogen? −196 °C (−320 °F, 77 K) and why it stays there
Liquid nitrogen is −195.8 °C (−320.4 °F, 77.36 K) at sea level. How scientists know, what changes it, how long it lasts, its uses…
Primary sourcesResearch and official data linked in context
Evidence calibratedObservation, interpretation and speculation separated
Corrections welcomeTransparent updates and a direct reporting channel
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Explore by field and evidence
Choose the kind of evidence you want to read. Labels describe the study type, not whether a finding is true.
Space
Planets, moons, stars and black holes, with the mission data behind each number.
news Astronomy Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Population study of catalogue data
Two families of multi-planet systems tied to their host stars, study finds
news Astronomy Evidence status: Peer reviewed · New observations
Rubin Observatory finds two new stable Neptune Trojans in the trailing L5 cloud
news Astronomy Evidence status: Official announcement
Roman telescope’s main camera beats its optics target, NASA says
news Astronomy Evidence status: Peer reviewed · JWST observations
JWST finds gas near Sagittarius A* is about 1.8 times solar in metals
news Astronomy Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Modelling of telescope observations
Uranus and Neptune may have different origins, a carbon-to-oxygen study suggests
news Astronomy Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Observational study
Milky Way’s disk settled in two stages, Gaia star ages suggest
news Astronomy Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Telescope spectroscopy
3I/ATLAS methane holds more deuterium than any measured in the Solar System
news Astronomy Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Single event
Short and long gamma-ray burst 4 minutes apart defies the two-type rule
No stories of this evidence type in this field yet.
Physics
Gravity, quantum behaviour and fundamental forces, with the calculations shown.
explainer Chemistry
How cold is liquid nitrogen? −196 °C (−320 °F, 77 K) and why it stays there
explainer Chemistry
How cold is dry ice? −78.5 °C, why it skips liquid, and safe handling
news Earth Evidence status: Official announcement
Leap seconds end in May 2027 after vote to let UTC drift up to an hour
news Physics Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Lab demonstration
Google’s quantum chip cuts magic-state errors 40-fold, Science paper reports, but most attempts are discarded
news Physics Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Collider measurement
Jet quenching seen in RHIC oxygen collisions, a sign of quark–gluon plasma
news Earth Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Laboratory shock experiments
Shocked magnesium oxide melts at 13,200 K, but its route depends on direction
explainer Astronomy
Why is the Moon orange tonight? Low Moons, smoke and eclipses explained
news Physics Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Accepted manuscript
Single-atom NMR: an STM tip drives one titanium nucleus, but how is unclear
No stories of this evidence type in this field yet.
Biology
Genes, evolution and living systems, with study design and sample sizes made clear.
news Biology Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Red List reassessment
44% of assessed reef-building corals are threatened, Nature study finds
news Anthropology Evidence status: Peer-reviewed journal; synthesis of published archaeological and historical records; full text not read by SciQuest
Tuna fishing goes back 44,000 years, but open-ocean fisheries are recent, review finds
news Biology Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Lab aquarium study
Bleached corals recover by touching healthy clones, lab study finds
news Biology Evidence status: Peer reviewed; DNA (phylogenomic) study; fossil literature review
Barn owls reached the Americas via the Caribbean, where most island species died out
news Biology Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Observational (historical records)
Most tracked bee species in Europe lost range over a century, study finds
news Biology Evidence status: Peer reviewed; population biobank analysis; no health outcomes assessed
Average human genome holds about 5 million variants, and a few linked to disease
news Biology Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Meta-analysis of published fossil records
Fossil pollen ties plant life’s two biggest turnovers to extreme ancient warmth
news Biology Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Single fossil specimen
Jurassic swimming mammal relative hints suckling anatomy evolved early
No stories of this evidence type in this field yet.
Health
Medical research read carefully: mouse, cell and human evidence kept distinct.
news Biology Evidence status: Peer reviewed; population biobank analysis; no health outcomes assessed
Average human genome holds about 5 million variants, and a few linked to disease
news Biology Evidence status: Mouse study · Peer reviewed
Hidden drainage route found at the back of the eye in mice, but its glaucoma link is untested
News Biology Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Mouse study
Can Ozempic Slow Aging? Semaglutide Extended Lifespan in Older Female Mice
News Biology Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Human genetic association study
Scientists Identify 36 Risk Genes Linked to OCD and Tic Disorders
News AI Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Cross-sectional study
AI Emotional Support Is Linked to Distress in Young People
News Biology Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Laboratory and genomic study
Tuberculosis May Evolve Drug Resistance While Drying in Air
News Biology Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Cell and tissue imaging study
Self-Blinking Probes Image DNA Near Double-Helix Resolution
News Biology
Doctors Injected Mitochondria From a Woman’s Leg Into Her Eyes
No stories of this evidence type in this field yet.
Earth
Climate, geology and oceans, traced back to measurements and official records.
explainer Earth
How cold is Everest? Summit and Base Camp temperatures by season
news Earth Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Hindcast evaluation plus one real-time competition year
Machine learning doubles ECMWF’s AI subseasonal forecast skill, from a low base
news Earth Evidence status: Official announcement
Leap seconds end in May 2027 after vote to let UTC drift up to an hour
news Earth Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Palaeoclimate proxy data
Arctic winter sea ice may shrink more than models project, ancient clues suggest
news Earth Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Statistical model of radiocarbon dates
Japan’s 7,300-year-old Kikai-Akahoya eruption hit Jomon foragers unevenly, study finds
news Earth Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Global observational analysis of satellite-derived datasets
Glaciers ending in lakes or the sea: 3% of glaciers, half of the ice loss
news Earth Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Laboratory shock experiments
Shocked magnesium oxide melts at 13,200 K, but its route depends on direction
explainer Astronomy
Why is the Moon orange tonight? Low Moons, smoke and eclipses explained
No stories of this evidence type in this field yet.
Selected reading
More from SciQuest
Clear explanations of what scientists found, how they know and what remains uncertain.
explainer Chemistry
How cold is dry ice? −78.5 °C, why it skips liquid, and safe handling
Dry ice is −78.5 °C (−109.3 °F, 194.7 K) at sea-level pressure. Why it sublimates, how it compares with liquid nitrogen, how long it lasts and…
news Earth Evidence status: Peer reviewed · Hindcast evaluation plus one real-time competition year
Machine learning doubles ECMWF’s AI subseasonal forecast skill, from a low base
Nature study: probabilistic bias correction doubles ECMWF's AI model's week 3 to 4 forecast skill, from 0.03 to about 0.06. What that does and does not…
news Earth Evidence status: Official announcement
Leap seconds end in May 2027 after vote to let UTC drift up to an hour
Metrology delegates voted on 15 October 2026 to end leap seconds: from 20 May 2027 UTC runs continuously and may drift up to 3,600 s from…
How SciQuest reports
Interesting science is stronger when readers can inspect the evidence.
Our editorial standard requires every substantive story to identify what was observed, how it was measured, what researchers infer and what remains uncertain.
Read our editorial standards- 01Find the primary evidence
Start with the paper, dataset, mission record or official technical source.
- 02Test the central claim
Check the method, numbers, scope, uncertainty and alternative explanations.
- 03Explain without inflating
Make the significance clear while preserving limits and scientific context.
Start here
Essential explainers
Durable answers with the numbers, the method and the caveats in one place.
explainer Chemistry
Why is water called the universal solvent? The chemistry and its limits
Water dissolves salt and sugar because its molecules are polar and form hydrogen bonds, and its dielectric constant is 78.3. Why oil,…
explainer Astronomy
Why is the Moon orange tonight? Low Moons, smoke and eclipses explained
Why is the Moon orange tonight? Near the horizon its light crosses about 38 times more air, stripping out blue. See the…
explainer Astronomy
How hot is the Sun? Surface, core and corona temperatures
How hot is the Sun? The surface is 5,772 K (5,499 °C, 9,930 °F), the core about 15.7 million K and the…
explainer Physics
How far away is lightning? The flash-to-bang rule explained
Count seconds from flash to thunder and divide by 3 for km (5 for miles). Why it works, a worked example, and…