News in Brief
- Astronomy
Three gas clouds nearly grazed the edge of the Milky Way’s black hole
Gas clumps cozy up to the Milky Way’s enormous black hole, new observations reveal.
- Tech
A new robot decides how and when to transform to get the job done
A bot made of smaller robotic pieces autonomously changes its shape to trundle across flat ground, squeeze into tight spaces or climb stairs.
- Archaeology
People in the Pacific Northwest smoked tobacco long before Europeans showed up
Ancient indigenous groups in the Pacific Northwest used tobacco roughly 600 years before European settlers ventured west with the plant.
- Animals
Coral larvae survive being frozen and thawed for the first time
Cryopreservation might help save some coral reefs at risk from climate change and other dangers.
- Life
To get a deeper tan, don’t sunbathe every day
Skin cells make protective melanin on a 48-hour cycle.
- Tech
A new palm-sized drone is mini, but mighty
Unlike other small drones, this flying robot can tote objects up to 40 times its own weight.
- Life
Why some people may be more susceptible to deadly C. difficile infections
Proline, a type of amino acid, increases when gut microbe mixes are disturbed, giving this pathogen a ready food source.
- Neuroscience
Messing with fruit flies’ gut bacteria turns them into speed walkers
Without the right gut microbes, fruit flies walk faster and take shorter rests, results that highlight a new connection between the gut and brain.
- Physics
This cloud-zapping laser could help scientists create a quantum internet
A powerful fast-pulsing laser can bust through clouds to make quantum communication via satellite easier.
- Paleontology
T. rex pulverized bones with an incredible amount of force
Tyrannosaurus rex’s powerful bite and remarkably strong teeth helped the dinosaur crush bones.
- Climate
More tornadoes are popping up east of the Mississippi
Tornadoes are becoming slightly less frequent in Tornado Alley, while more are touching down farther east in the United States, a study suggests.
- Archaeology
An ancient child’s ‘vampire burial’ included steps to prevent resurrection
A 10-year-old skeleton in a Roman cemetery had a stone placed in its mouth to prevent the youngster from rising from the dead, researchers say.
