News
- Psychology
Nostalgia may have bona fide benefits in hard times, like the pandemic
Once described as a disease, nostalgia’s reputation is much improved. Researchers hope to develop mental health therapies that trigger these memories.
- Astronomy
The fastest-spinning white dwarf ever seen rotates once every 25 seconds
A white dwarf star that spins every 25 seconds owes its record-breaking rotation rate to a companion star dumping gas onto it.
- Science & Society
Methods of getting results from real-world experiments win 2021 economics Nobel
David Card, Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens share the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for developing a science of naturally occurring social studies.
- Archaeology
The earliest evidence of tobacco use dates to over 12,000 years ago
Burned seeds at an archaeological site in Utah hint at tobacco’s popularity long before it was domesticated.
- Archaeology
Dog DNA reveals ancient trade network connecting the Arctic to the outside world
People in Siberia were exchanging canines and probably other goods as early as 7,000 years ago with cultures as far off as Europe and the Near East.
- Astronomy
China’s lunar rock samples show lava flowed on the moon 2 billion years ago
The first lunar rocks returned to Earth in more than 40 years show that the moon was volcanically active later than scientists thought.
- Animals
Giant ground sloths may have been meat-eating scavengers
Contrary to previous assumptions, at least one ancient giant ground sloth was a meat eater.
- Chemistry
An easier, greener way to build molecules wins the chemistry Nobel Prize
Chemists Benjamin List and David MacMillan have sparked a whole new field that’s aided drug discovery and made chemistry more environmentally friendly.
- Astronomy
Space rocks may have bounced off baby Earth, but slammed into Venus
New simulations suggest a way to help explain dramatic differences between the sibling worlds.
- Physics
Work on complex systems, including Earth’s climate, wins the physics Nobel Prize
Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann pioneered work on computer simulations of Earth’s climate. Giorgio Parisi found hidden patterns in disordered complex materials.
- Quantum Physics
Scientists are one step closer to error-correcting quantum computers
In a quantum computer made with trapped ions, multiple quantum bits were combined into one to detect mistakes.
- Health & Medicine
A custom brain implant lifted a woman’s severe depression
An experimental device interrupts brain activity linked to a woman’s low mood. The technology, she said, has changed her lens on life.
