Feature
- Astronomy
How the Parker probe was built to survive close encounters with the sun
Scientists had to get creative in testing the technology for the Parker Solar Probe, using huge mirrors, dust tunnels and even reams of paper.
- Anthropology
Conflict reigns over the history and origins of money
Thousands of years ago, money took different forms as a means of debt payment, archaeologists and anthropologists say.
- Science & Society
People are bad at spotting fake news. Can computer programs do better?
Fake news–finding algorithms could someday make up the front lines of online fact checking.
- Health & Medicine
The brain may clean out Alzheimer’s plaques during sleep
Sleep deprivation may speed up development of Alzheimer’s disease.
- Astronomy
The ecosystem that controls a galaxy’s future is coming into focus
An invisible cloak called the circumgalactic medium controls a galaxy’s life and death.
- Health & Medicine
How to make CAR-T cell therapies for cancer safer and more effective
CAR-T cell therapy was approved by the FDA in late 2017. Now, scientists are working to tame the cancer treatment’s side effects.
- Climate
Why won’t this debate about an ancient cold snap die?
Critics are still unconvinced that a comet caused a mysterious cold snap 12,800 years ago.
- Genetics
DNA testing can bring families together, but gives mixed answers on ethnicity
DNA testing has become a new way for millions of Americans to expand their family trees and learn something about themselves, but results vary widely.
- Physics
In her short life, mathematician Emmy Noether changed the face of physics
A century after she published a groundbreaking mathematical theory, Emmy Noether gets her due.
- Genetics
What consumer DNA data can and can’t tell you about your risk for certain diseases
Consumers face lots of choices and unanswered questions when they get personal genomic information related to disease risk from the Internet.
- Tech
Future smart clothes could pack serious gadgetry
Casual daywear may someday contain some serious tech. But engineers have to take conventional electronics and make them comfortable to wear.
- Genetics
Consumer DNA testing promises more than it delivers
Chances are your DNA doesn’t contain dark secrets. But there may be lots of variety in results from testing company to company.
