Could a whale really swallow a human? We asked a biologist. - Popular Science

The Futura Team represents the pulse of Futura’s editorial department, bringing together a collective expertise dedicated to the dissemination of scientific knowledge. Rather than the work of a single author, every article published under this signature is the result of a rigorous collaborative process involving journalists, editors, and fact-checkers. Specializing in news analysis via desk research and international wire services, the team focuses on transforming raw information into accessible, verified content. This curation and synthesis process ensures constant monitoring of technological innovations and major scientific breakthroughs. By cross-referencing sources and conducting multiple rounds of peer review, the Futura Team guarantees scientific accuracy and pedagogical clarity. This collective signature serves as a hallmark of trust, providing reactive, cross-disciplinary information at the forefront of current events Astronomers searching for potentially habitable worlds usually start by examining the star a planet orbits. If the planet is at just the right distance—not too close, not too far—liquid water could theoretically exist at its surface.

The first episode of the NOVA PBS documentary series Evolution, which aired last night and you can see here, makes it sound like a land animal coming to live full time in the sea is pretty much a breeze. The creature is shown probing cautiously in the water with a forelimb, and almost the next thing you know, we’ve got fully ocean-going cetaceans including dolphins and whales. As biologist Richard Sternberg explains, there simply isn’t enough time for that transition to have occurred through unguided chance mistakes alone, as PBS imagines it. Watch: They forgot to ask Dr. Sternberg about this problem. The smooth narrative of the documentary is expected to carry the viewer along, not asking any questions. More details of the issue are discussed by Sternberg in my book Plato’s Revenge: The New Science of the Immaterial Genome.