All Stories
- Planetary Science
Europa spouting off again
Plumes of presumably water erupt from the surface of Jupiter’s frozen moon Europa, in images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.
- Climate
Methane didn’t warm ancient Earth, new simulations suggest
Scarce oxygen and abundant sulfate prevented methane from accumulating enough to keep Earth warm hundreds of millions of years ago, reviving the faint young sun paradox.
- Planetary Science
Mercury’s surface still changing
A population of small cliffs on Mercury suggests that the planet might have been tectonically active in the last 50 million years.
- Archaeology
Ancient Maya codex not fake, new analysis claims
New report suggests an ancient Maya text — the bark-paper Grolier Codex — could be the oldest known document in Americas.
- Health & Medicine
Sugar industry sought to sugarcoat causes of heart disease
Sugar industry has long, sweet history of influencing science.
- Earth
Nuclear blasts, other human activity signal new epoch, group argues
A group of scientists will formally propose the human-defined Anthropocene as a new epoch in Earth’s geologic history within a few years, probably pegging the start date to nuclear tests.
- Planetary Science
A salty sea could lurk beneath the heart of Pluto
An ocean more than 100 kilometers thick might hide beneath Pluto’s surface.
- Genetics
New era of human embryo gene editing begins
Gene editing of viable human embryos is happening, in and out of the public eye.
- Health & Medicine
It’s time to retire the five-second rule
Wet food can slurp bacteria off the floor in less than a second.
- Plants
Narrowed plumbing lets flower survive summer cold snaps
Ice barriers help alpine plants save their flowers during summer cold snaps.
- Genetics
Endurance training leaves no memory in muscles
Unlike strength training, endurance workouts left no genetic trace months later, calling into question idea of a general muscle memory.
- Earth
Natural ally against global warming not as strong as thought
Soils may take in far less carbon by the end of the century than previously predicted, exacerbating climate change.
