News
- Anthropology
The oldest known mummies have been found — in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asian groups mummified bodies over smoky fires before burying them as early as 12,000 years ago, long before Egyptians began making mummies.
- Materials Science
Salt can turn frozen water into a weak power source
Experiments reveal that when slabs of salty ice are strained, electricity is generated, though practical uses are still a long way off.
- Space
How a Harvard maverick forever changed our concept of the stars
At just 25, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin applied quantum physics to a treasure trove of astronomical observations to show that stars are mostly hydrogen and helium.
- Earth
Recycled glass could help fend off coastal erosion
Sand made from recycled glass can be mixed with sediment to make a medium for plants to grow in. That can help with coastal restoration projects.
- Physics
Scientists made a biological quantum bit out of a fluorescent protein
Researchers could use quantum effects to develop new types of medical imaging inside cells themselves.
- Humans
Want to avoid mosquito bites? Step away from the beer
A Dutch music festival turned into a mosquito lab, revealing how beer, weed, sleep and sunscreen affect your bite appeal.
- Animals
Octopus arms are adaptable but some are favored for particular jobs
Octopuses are ambidextrous, a new study finds, but they favor their front arms for investigating surroundings and their back arms for locomotion.
- Paleontology
Crystallized dino eggs provide a peek into the tumultuous Late Cretaceous
Definitively dating the age of a clutch of fossil dinosaur eggs at a famous site in China may let scientists link eggshell features to environmental shifts at the time.
- Physics
A ‘ringing’ black hole matches scientists’ predictions
Gravitational waves emitted after two black holes coalesced agree with theories from physicists Stephen Hawking and Roy Kerr.
- Health & Medicine
The brain preserves maps of missing hands for years
Countering the idea of large-scale rewiring, women whose hands were removed retained durable brain activity patterns linked to their missing fingers.
- Health & Medicine
Chemicals in marijuana may affect women’s fertility
THC in marijuana may help eggs become ready for fertilization. But this may come at the cost of more eggs with wrong numbers of chromosomes.
- Planetary Science
Seismic waves suggest Mars has a solid heart
NASA’s InSight lander listened to Marsquakes for four years. The tremors revealed that Mars may have a solid inner core.
