News in Brief
- 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.
- Life
How the poppy got its pain-relieving powers
Analyzing the poppy’s genome reveals the evolutionary history of morphine.
- 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.
- 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.
- Particle Physics
An elusive Higgs boson decay has finally been spotted
Two experiments at the Large Hadron Collider confirm that the Higgs boson decays into bottom quark pairs.
- Animals
Naked mole-rats eat the poop of their queen for parenting cues
Hormones in the naked mole-rat queen’s poop turn subordinate nest-mates into surrogate parents.
- Climate
Chances of an Atlantic hurricane season busier than 2005’s are slim — for now
The 28 named tropical storms that swirled through the Atlantic Ocean in 2005 is about as many as the region can produce in a year.
- Humans
Meet the first known child of a Neandertal and a Denisovan
DNA analysis of a bone fragment reveals Neandertal movements between Siberia and western Europe.
- Materials Science
A filter that turns saltwater into freshwater just got an upgrade
Smoothing out a material used in desalination filters could help combat worldwide water shortages.
- Health & Medicine
Cancer drugs may help the liver recover from common painkiller overdoses
Experimental anticancer drugs may help the liver recover after acetaminophen poisoning.
- Astronomy
With launch looming, the Parker Solar Probe is ready for its star turn
The Parker Solar Probe is scheduled to launch on August 11 to become the first spacecraft to touch the sun.
