All Stories
- Health & Medicine
Some existing drugs might fight COVID-19. One may make it worse
Maps of interactions between coronavirus proteins and host proteins point to drugs that may slow viral growth, but cough medicine may stimulate growth.
- Astronomy
The sun is less magnetically active than similar stars, and we don’t know why
Why our star seems so different from its stellar kin is a mystery.
- Earth
Greenland and Antarctica are gaining ice inland, but still losing it overall
Inland ice accumulation is not enough to counteract the amount of ice melting off Antarctica and Greenland into the oceans, satellite data show.
- Physics
A newfound superconducting current travels only along a material’s edge
In a first, scientists spot electricity flowing without resistance on the rim of a topological superconductor.
- Anthropology
16th century skeletons suggest the slave trade brought some diseases to Mexico
Slaves buried in a 16th century grave in Mexico had hepatitis B and yaws, suggesting the slave trade helped spread some versions of those diseases.
- Health & Medicine
Remdesivir is the first drug found to block the coronavirus
Preliminary results suggest that an antiviral treatment speeds recovery from COVID-19.
- Health & Medicine
To end social distancing, the U.S. must dramatically ramp up contact tracing
Life after social distancing may involve apps that ask you to self-isolate after you’ve been near someone who tests positive for COVID-19.
- Paleontology
A ‘crazy beast’ from the time of dinosaurs belongs to an obscure mammal group
Paleontologists have finally matched a bizarre fossil, Adalatherium hui, to an obscure group of ancient mammals called gondwanatherians.
- Paleontology
Spinosaurus fossil tail suggests dinosaurs were swimmers after all
Unique among known dinosaurs, Spinosaurus had a finlike tail, which the predator may have used to propel itself through the water.
- Health & Medicine
Vaping may damage the heart just as smoking does
Vapers and smokers showed similar signs of blood vessel damage, compared with people who didn’t smoke or vape.
- Animals
Here’s why a hero shrew has the sturdiest spine of any mammal
The hero shrew’s rigid backbone is among the weirdest mammal spines, its incredible strength aided by fortified vertebrae bones.
- Physics
Scientists ‘strummed’ a molecule’s chemical bonds like guitar strings
Scientists dragged an atomic force microscope tip, with a single carbon monoxide molecule dangling from it, across a chemical bond.
