News in Brief
- Neuroscience
How obesity may harm memory and learning
In obese mice, immune cells chomp nerve cell connections and harm brainpower.
- Planetary Science
Saturn has two hexagons, not one, swirling around its north pole
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft spied a vortex growing high over Saturn’s north pole, whose hexagonal shape mirrors a famous underlying cyclone.
- Genetics
German skeletons hint that medieval warrior groups recruited from afar
Graveyard finds may come from an ancient European warrior household with political pull.
- Planetary Science
Jupiter’s magnetic field is surprisingly weird
New results from NASA’s Juno spacecraft reveal different magnetic behavior in the planet’s northern and southern hemispheres.
- Quantum Physics
Rubidium atoms mimic the Eiffel Tower, a Möbius strip and other 3-D shapes
Scientists have arranged atoms of the element rubidium into complex three-dimensional structures.
- Astronomy
New images reveal how an ancient monster galaxy fueled furious star formation
Scientists were able to see the abundance of star-forming gas and dust in a giant galaxy from when the universe was less than 2 billion years old.
- Materials Science
A new material harnesses light to deice surfaces
A new sun-powered material could someday melt the ice off airplane wings, wind turbines and rooftops.
- Planetary Science
The massive Mars dust storm is waning. Now, will Opportunity wake?
With a global dust storm on Mars finally passing, NASA hopes that its Opportunity rover will soon phone home.
- Neuroscience
Newfound skull tunnels may speed immune cells’ trek to brain injuries
Minuscule channels connect the skull to the brain’s outer membrane, studies in mice and people show.
- Health & Medicine
CRISPR gene editing relieves muscular dystrophy symptoms in dogs
Scientists have used CRISPR’s molecular scissors in beagle puppies to repair a genetic mutation that causes muscular dystrophy.
- Life
How the poppy got its pain-relieving powers
Analyzing the poppy’s genome reveals the evolutionary history of morphine.
- Health & Medicine
Officials raise Puerto Rico’s death toll from Hurricane Maria to nearly 3,000 people
Nearly 3,000 Puerto Ricans died due to Hurricane Maria as of February 2018, according to a new report.
