Tech
‘Nuts and Bolts’ showcases the 7 building blocks of modern engineering
Science News reviews Roma Agrawal's book, which updates the classic list of simple machines and reveals the heart and soul of engineering.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
What parrots can teach us about human intelligence
By studying the brains and behaviors of parrots, scientists hope to learn more about how humanlike intelligence evolves.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Animals
Ant face patterns like swirls and stubble might have practical value
Reviewing thousands of ant photos hints that facial surface patterns might offer benefits, like structural support or abrasion protection.
Notebook
Materials Science
A fiber inspired by polar bears traps heat as well as down feathers do
Scientists took a cue from polar bear fur to turn an ultralight insulating material into knittable thread.
Features
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AI chatbots can be tricked into misbehaving. Can scientists stop it?
To develop better safeguards, computer scientists are studying how people have manipulated generative AI chatbots into answering harmful questions.
More Stories from the January 27, 2024 issue
- Animals
A new species of hedgehog stands out for its short spikes
At first, the eastern forest hedgehog was mistaken for its cousin. Dental and DNA analyses eventually confirmed the critter is a species new to science.
- Physics
Here’s how much fruit you can take from a display before it collapses
About 10 percent of the fruit in a tilted market display can be removed before it all crashes down, computer simulations show.
- Health & Medicine
Fetuses make a protein that causes morning sickness in pregnancy
A hormone called GDF15 triggers a part of the brain involved in nausea and vomiting, a new study finds. Blocking its action may lead to treatments.
- Life
Bacteria fossils hold the oldest signs of machinery needed for photosynthesis
Microfossils from Australia suggest that cyanobacteria evolved structures for oxygen-producing photosynthesis by 1.78 billion years ago.
- Physics
Invisible comet tails of mucus slow sinking flakes of ‘marine snow’
New measurements reveal the gunk that surrounds the particles, an important factor in understanding how the ocean sequesters carbon.
- Animals
Reindeer can sleep while they chew
Brain waves and behaviors suggest that reindeer can doze while chewing, a timesaving strategy for sleeping under tough conditions.
- Animals
Why do some lizards and snakes have horns?
These reptiles’ horns can be an asset or a liability. A new study looks at the evolutionary roots of this wild headgear.
- Animals
Here’s how spiders that go overboard use light to find land
When elongate stilt spiders fall into water, they head for areas that don’t reflect light in the hope of finding dry land, experiments suggest.
- Astronomy
A bar of stars at the center of the Milky Way looks surprisingly young
The ages and locations of metal-rich stars in the galaxy suggest the Milky Way’s central bar finished forming just a few billion years ago.
- Planetary Science
A toxic gas that could help spawn life has been found on Enceladus
Cassini data indicate that hydrogen cyanide, a key building block for life, exists on Saturn’s icy moon. A snakelike NASA robot might test for sure.
- Earth
Speed bumps under Thwaites Glacier could help slow its flow to the sea
A seismic survey of Thwaites’ icy underbelly shows the Antarctica glacier may be snagging on tall rises in land. That could help slow global sea level rise.
- Paleontology
50 years ago, trilobite eyes mesmerized scientists
Decades of research has confirmed that for such simple creatures, trilobites had astoundingly complex eyes.
