News
- Space
Solar flares may show predictable warning signs hours before erupting
Scientists spotted patterns hours before a major solar flare, a discovery that could help forecast dangerous eruptions.
- Health & Medicine
Why is hantavirus so deadly? It’s not what you may think
Andes hantavirus causes deadly lung failure, but its method of attack differs from other respiratory illnesses. The details might inform future treatments.
- Animals
Even careful scuba divers can damage coral reefs
Hours of diving videos and hundreds of survey responses reveal the common diver mistakes that can cause irreversible reef damage.
- Physics
Physics explains why gold stays pristine
Metals like copper oxidize — reacting with oxygen in the air — but gold doesn’t, thanks to a quick switch in atom arrangement on its surface.
- Health & Medicine
Congo prepared for Ebola. Now a rare strain is exposing gaps in readiness
As Congo’s Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak grows, public health responders are turning to old-school tactics to fight it as scientists search for new tools.
- Science & Society
How house design can curb childhood illnesses in Africa
Experimental houses with screens, rainwater systems and ventilation reduced malaria, diarrhea and infections among children in Tanzania.
- Archaeology
One mystery of the Great Pyramid’s longevity has finally been solved
Differences in how the pyramid and surrounding soil vibrate, along with design choices, have protected the structure from earthquakes.
- Health & Medicine
Screening all kids for type 1 diabetes can catch more cases early
Identifying children with early signs of type 1 diabetes makes a difference to their health. A new study suggests wider screening is effective.
- Animals
Seabirds weren’t fooled by a scarecrow-like buoy with rotating eyes
A tall buoy with a rotating pair of eyes was supposed to scare birds away from caught fish. Like scarecrows, it didn't work for long.
- Planetary Science
An ancient moonpocalypse may explain Neptune’s odd moon Nereid
Neptune’s oddball moon Nereid may be the sole remnant of an earlier system, formed near the planet rather than being pulled in from afar.
- Oceans
The outlook for a climate-regulating ocean current is…not good
An ocean current called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation will weaken by 50 percent by 2100. The question is what to do about it.
- Animals
AI-powered whale-spotting tech may help save San Francisco Bay’s gray whales
An AI trained to use thermal images to detect whale body heat could help warn ships at risk of colliding with the marine mammals.
