All Stories
- Humans
Prehistoric people may have used light from fires to create dynamic art
When brought near flickering flames, prehistoric stone engravings of animals seem to move, experiments with replicas and virtual reality show.
- Astronomy
We finally have an image of the black hole at the heart of the Milky Way
Observations from the Event Horizon Telescope reveal the turbulent region around our home galaxy’s black hole, Sagittarius A*, in new detail.
- Earth
Machine learning and gravity signals could rapidly detect big earthquakes
Large earthquakes make speed-of-light adjustments to Earth’s gravitational field. Researchers have now trained computers to detect the signals.
- Health & Medicine
Here’s the latest good and bad news about COVID-19 drugs
After coronavirus vaccines, antivirals and a monoclonal antibody are the next line of defense, but the treatments may be hard for some people to find.
- Humans
Eating meat is the Western norm. But norms can change
A meat-heavy diet, with its high climate costs, is the norm in the West. So social scientists are working to upend normal.
- Animals
Baby marmosets may practice their first distinctive cries in the womb
Ultrasounds tracking fetal mouth movements in baby marmosets pinpoint the early development of the motor skills needed for vocalization.
- Science & Society
Why it’s so hard for a one-hit wonder to have a lasting music career
An analysis of nearly 3 million pop songs from 1959 to 2010 shows fame is a dance between similarity and innovation.
- Astronomy
The sun’s searing radiation led to the shuffling of the solar system’s planets
As the young sun’s radiation evaporated gas from its surrounding disk, it triggered a jumbling of the giant planets’ orbits, simulations suggest.
- Life
These bats buzz like wasps and bees. The sound may deter hungry owls
Researchers have identified what may be the first known case of a mammal mimicking an insect.
- Health & Medicine
How to wash chicken in the kitchen more safely, according to physics
Despite the advice of health experts, most people who cook chicken at home wash it. New research offers ways to reduce spreading dangerous germs.
- Agriculture
These six foods may become more popular as the planet warms
Millet, kelp, Bambara groundnut and cassava are resilient, sustainable and nutrient dense — good options for future dinner plates.
- Space
50 years ago, scientists had hints of a planet beyond Pluto
In 1972, calculations from Halley’s comet offered evidence of another planet. Today’s astronomers are still searching for a Planet Nine.
