All Stories
- Archaeology
Human footprints in New Mexico really may be surprisingly ancient, new dating shows
Two dating methods find that human tracks in White Sands National Park in New Mexico are roughly 22,000 years old, aligning with a previous estimate.
- Health & Medicine
‘Dormant’ HIV has ongoing skirmishes with the body’s immune system
In people on HIV drugs, defective viral bits may still exhaust T cells, possibly making it harder to fight back if people go off the drugs.
- Life
Hippos might be ferocious fighters, but their big teeth make them terrible chewers
Among plant eaters, hippos are the worst chewers. Their huge tusks and front teeth keep the jaw from moving side to side to grind food, a study finds.
- Chemistry
The development of quantum dots wins the 2023 Nobel prize in chemistry
Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus and Alexei Ekimov split the prize for their work in creating nanoparticles whose properties depend on their size.
- Animals
A global report finds amphibians are still in peril. But it’s not all bad news
A survey of about 8,000 amphibian species provides the latest update on extinction risk trends stretching back to 1980.
- Physics
Technique to see the ultrafast world of electrons wins 2023 physics Nobel
Physicists Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier won for work creating light bursts that last billionths of a billionth of a second.
- Animals
In noisy environs, pied tamarins are using smell more often to communicate
Groups of the primate, native to Brazil, complement vocalizations with scent-marking behavior to alert other tamarins to dangers in their urban home.
- Plants
The first citrus fruits may have come from southern China
An in-depth look at the orange family tree shows the oldest Citrus ancestors arrived in Asia on the Indian tectonic plate over 25 million years ago.
- Health & Medicine
Early mRNA research that led to COVID-19 vaccines wins 2023 medicine Nobel Prize
Biochemists Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman devised mRNA modifications to make vaccines that trigger good immune responses instead of harmful ones.
- Physics
50 years ago, scientists dreamed of lasers that could kick off nuclear fusion
In the 1970s, lasers that could initiate nuclear fusion were a distant dream. Now, scientists are using such lasers to achieve fusion “ignition.”
-
The challenges of seeing the profusion of tiny life
Editor in chief Nancy Shute marvels at the diversity of tiny life-forms known as protists.
-
