All Stories
- Animals
Territorial conflict may explain male primates’ large size
Male primates may be larger than females partly because of pressure from rival groups, not just competition with males inside their own group.
- Math
Jazz and classical music have become simpler, a new study finds
Mathematical analysis suggests that melodies and harmonies have become less complex as music evolves and musicians find new ways “to create great music.”
- Health & Medicine
Uterus transplants can provide a path to pregnancy and parenthood
Donated uteruses transplanted into women without a womb can allow for successful pregnancy and birth.
- Astronomy
Astronomers may have found a record-breaking pair of black holes
At some 60 billion times the mass of the sun, this dark void could be home to a pair of black holes that are due for a cosmic collision.
- Health & Medicine
Some South American rodent-borne viruses may spread as climate warms
Some rodents in South America carry arenaviruses and hantaviruses. Climate change may bring both to regions where neither is currently a threat.
- Psychology
Yawning is contagious — even in the womb
Rather than catching a yawn on sight, muscles squeezing the uterus could be the trigger for a fetus to catch a yawn from its mother.
- Paleontology
If wings came before flight, what were they for?
Scientists use simulated dinosaurs to trigger real insect brains and test how wings originally evolved.
- Particle Physics
To understand black holes, physicists turn to a mathematical ‘Rosetta stone’
A link between particle physics and gravity equations, called the double copy, applies to Hawking radiation, creating a new way into black hole puzzles.
- Neuroscience
Why some brain cells are particularly vulnerable to multiple sclerosis
DNA damage from inflammation outpaces the cells’ ability to self-repair. The finding, in human brain cells and mice, could point to new MS treatments.
- Quantum Physics
A grapefruit-sized quantum device mapped Earth’s magnetic field from space
On the International Space Station, a cube holding a diamond-based sensor revealed the potential for quantum magnetometers.
- Neuroscience
25 people learned to fly with virtual wings. Here’s how the brain changed
A new study shows learning to fly in virtual reality with virtual wings can reshape the brain, making it treat wings more like body parts.
- Planetary Science
Going to space? Always, always pack a camera
Planetary scientist Candice Hansen-Koharcheck championed the importance of space imagery. Her legacy lives on in every pixel that comes back to Earth.
