Archaeology
‘Origin’ explores the controversial science of the first Americans
A new book looks at how genetics has affected the study of humans’ arrival in the Americas and sparked conflicts with Indigenous groups today.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
How the Human Genome Project revolutionized understanding of our DNA
Completion of the Human Genome Project was a huge milestone, but there’s more work to do to ensure equitable access to the information in our DNA.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Animals
These tiny beetles fly fast thanks to wing bristles and a weird, wide stroke
Minuscule featherwing beetles have evolved a unique way of flying that lets them match the speed of beetles three times as big.
Notebook
Animals
Here’s what goldfish driving ‘cars’ tell us about navigation
When measuring intelligence, the saying goes, don’t judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree. But what about its ability to drive a vehicle?
Features
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Military towns are the most racially integrated places in the U.S. Here’s why
The military’s big stick approach allowed the institution to integrate troops and military towns. Can the civilian world follow suit?
More Stories from the February 12, 2022 issue
- Climate
Intense drought or flash floods can shock the global economy
Rainfall extremes have powerful impacts on the global economy, affecting the manufacturing and services sectors more than agriculture.
- Astronomy
An X-ray glow suggests black holes or neutron stars fuel weird cosmic ‘cows’
With the brightest X-ray glow of a new class of exploding stars, cosmic oddity AT2020mrf boosts evidence of these mysterious blasts’ power source.
- Genetics
A genetic analysis hints at why COVID-19 can mess with smell
People with some genetic variants close to smell-related genes had an 11 percent higher risk of losing their sense of taste or smell.
- Animals
Part donkey, part wild ass, the kunga is the oldest known hybrid bred by humans
Syria’s 4,500-year-old kungas were donkey-wild ass hybrids, genetic analysis reveals, so the earliest known example of humans crossing animal species.
- Planetary Science
50 years ago, Arecibo got an unprecedented view of Venus’ surface
Over its 57-year lifetime, Arecibo’s radar system measured the mountains around Venus’ middle, studied the textures of many rocky bodies in outer space and more.
- Astronomy
An early outburst portends a star’s imminent death
An eruption before a stellar explosion was the first early warning sign for a standard type of supernova.
- Chemistry
A disinfectant made from sawdust mows down deadly microbes
Antimicrobial molecules found in wood waste could be used to make more sustainable, greener disinfectants.
- Earth
Volcanic avalanches of rock and gas may be more destructive than previously thought
Pressures within pyroclastic flows may be as much as three times as great as observations had suggested.
- Microbes
Drug-resistant bacteria evolved on hedgehogs long before the use of antibiotics
A standoff between bacteria and antibiotic-producing fungi living on hedgehogs may have led to the rise of one type of MRSA some 200 years ago.
- Humans
Babies may use saliva sharing to figure out relationships
Actions like sharing bites of food or kissing may cue young children into close bonds, a new study suggests.
- Planetary Science
Organic molecules in an ancient Mars meteorite formed via geology, not alien life
Analysis of an ancient Martian meteorite reveals that organic molecules within it were formed by geologic processes rather than alien life.
- Animals
The largest group of nesting fish ever found lives beneath Antarctic ice
Researchers stumbled upon a fish breeding colony of unprecedented size, spanning a territory slightly larger than Baltimore.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum particles can feel the influence of gravitational fields they never touch
A quantum phenomenon predicted in 1959, the Aharonov-Bohm effect, also applies to gravity.
- Animals
Female dolphins have a clitoris much like humans’
The similarities suggest female dolphins experience sexual pleasure, which may explain why the species is so randy all the time.
- Earth
Some volcanic hot spots may have a surprisingly shallow heat source
Mysterious hot spots of volcanic activity in the interior of tectonic plates just got a little stranger.
- Anthropology
Homo sapiens bones in East Africa are at least 36,000 years older than once thought
Analyses of remnants of a volcanic blast push the age of East Africa’s oldest known H. sapiens fossils at Ethiopia’s Omo site to 233,000 years or more.
