News

Animals

Here’s how polar bears might get traction on snow

Microstructures on the Arctic animals’ paws might offer extra friction that keeps them from slipping on snow, a new study reports.

Animals

Bizarre aye-aye primates take nose picking to the extreme

A nose-picking aye-aye’s spindly middle finger probably reaches all the way to the back of the throat, CT scans suggest.

Animals

Insect swarms might generate as much electric charge as storm clouds

Honeybees flying over a sensor measuring atmospheric voltage sparked a look into how insect-induced static electricity might affect the atmosphere.

Climate

Wind turbines could help capture carbon dioxide while providing power

Turbulent wakes from wind turbines can concentrate CO₂ from cities and factories, making it easier to remove the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.

Animals

Mountain lions pushed out by wildfires take more risks

A study tracking mountain lions showed that after an intense burn, the big cats crossed roads more often, raising the risk of becoming roadkill.

Astronomy

Meet the BOAT, the brightest gamma-ray burst of all time

Probably triggered by a supernova in a remote galaxy, the burst detected on October 9 could challenge theories about these brilliant blasts.

Psychology

A new treatment for debilitating nightmares offers sweeter dreams

A new study combines standard nightmare disorder therapy with a memory-enhancing technique to create happier dreams and bring greater, lasting relief.

Chemistry

Mixing gold ions into whiskey can reveal its flavor

By changing the spirit’s color, the formation of gold nanoparticles can reveal how much flavor a whiskey has absorbed from its wood cask.

Earth

Particles from space provide a new look inside cyclones

Cosmic rays that smash into the atmosphere make muons that are sensitive to changing air pressure inside storms.

Climate

Here’s what happened to the Delaware-sized iceberg that broke off Antarctica

The powerful pull of currents in the Southern Ocean probably pulled apart the largest remnant of a massive iceberg that split off Antarctica in 2017.

Earth

Landslides shaped a hidden landscape within Yellowstone

Scientists have used lasers to get a detailed view of the national park’s topography, and they’ve spotted more than a thousand landslides.

Physics

Protons may be stretchier than physics predicts

Studying how quarks inside protons move in response to electric fields shows that protons seem to stretch more than theory says they should.