Physics
‘Countdown’ takes stock of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile
Physicists grapple with their role as stewards of the United States’ aging nuclear weapons in the new book by Sarah Scoles.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
Why the 2024 total solar eclipse will be such a big deal
The sun will be very active during the next solar eclipse to cross North America, making it an excellent viewing and scientific opportunity.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Earth
Where are U.S. earthquakes most likely? A new map shows the hazard risks
Updates to the National Seismic Hazard Model have elevated the average ground shaking hazard across the country.
Notebook
Animals
Explore the expected life spans of different dog breeds
An analysis of dogs in the United Kingdom found that breeds like miniature dachshunds have the longest life spans while bulldogs have the shortest.
More Stories from the March 9, 2024 issue
- Planetary Science
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx nabbed over 120 grams of space rocks from asteroid Bennu
After being stymied by two stuck screws, NASA finally accessed a trove of Bennu asteroid bits. Mission scientist Harold Connolly tells what’s next.
- Planetary Science
Saturn’s ‘Death Star’ moon might contain a hidden ocean
A fresh look at Cassini data reveals slight changes in the tiny moon’s orbit that suggest the presence of a vast ocean beneath the satellite’s icy shell.
- Artificial Intelligence
How do babies learn words? An AI experiment may hold clues
Using relatively little data, audio and video taken from a baby’s perspective, an AI program learned the names of objects the baby encountered.
- Paleontology
A rare 3-D tree fossil may be the earliest glimpse at a forest understory
The 350-million-year-old tree, which was wider than it was tall thanks to a mop-top crown of 3-meter-long leaves, would look at home in a Dr. Seuss book.
- Health & Medicine
Newfound immune cells are responsible for long-lasting allergies
A specialized type of immune cell appears primed to make the type of antibodies that lead to allergies, two research groups report.
- Neuroscience
A new device let a man sense temperature with his prosthetic hand
A device that can be integrated into prosthetic hands capitalizes on phantom sensations to enable users to sense hot and cold.
- Science & Society
Social media harms teens’ mental health, mounting evidence shows. What now?
Recent studies suggest a causal link between teen social media use and reduced well-being. Now, some researchers are looking into possible mechanisms.
- Archaeology
This Stone Age wall may have led Eurasian reindeer to their doom
Hunter-gatherers living 10,000 years ago in what is now Germany probably used the wall to trap reindeer in a nearby lake.
- Archaeology
These South American cave paintings reveal a surprisingly old tradition
Radiocarbon dates point to an artistic design practice that began in Patagonia almost 8,200 years ago, several millennia earlier than previously recorded.
- Life
Megalodon, the largest shark ever, may have been a long, slender giant
The ancient shark is typically imagined with the scaled-up stout frame of a modern great white. But in life, the giant may have been more elongated.
- Planetary Science
An asteroid may have exploded over Antarctica about 2.5 million years ago
Tiny spherules of rock found in Antarctic ice may point to the oldest known “airburst,” or midair disintegration of an incoming asteroid.
- Physics
50 years ago, superconductors were warming up
Superconducting temperatures have risen by about 250 degrees since the 1970s, but are still too cold to enable practical technologies.
