News
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LifeT. rex may have had lips like a modern lizard’s
Dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus have long been portrayed as lipless, but new research suggests this wasn’t so.
By Jake Buehler -
AnthropologyNative Americans corralled Spanish horses decades before Europeans arrived
Great Plains groups incorporated domestic horses into their cultures by the early 1600s, before Europeans moved north from Mexico.
By Bruce Bower -
NeuroscienceScientists triggered the flow of spinal fluid in the awake brain
If future studies confirm these waking waves wash away toxic proteins from the brain, the finding could lead to new treatments for brain disorders.
By Simon Makin -
PlantsStressed plants make ultrasonic clicking noises
Tomato and tobacco plants emit high frequency sounds, which could one day find a use in agriculture, as a way to detect thirsty crops.
By Meghan Rosen -
NeuroscienceYour brain wires itself to match your native language
MRI scans of nearly 100 native speakers of either German or Arabic revealed differences in how the language circuits of their brains are connected.
By Elise Cutts -
ChemistryHere’s why some Renaissance artists egged their oil paintings
Some Renaissance artists created eggs-quisite paintings by adding yolks to oil paints, which may have helped add texture and prevent yellowing.
By Jude Coleman -
Planetary ScienceBaby Jupiter glowed so brightly it might have desiccated its moon
During its infancy, Jupiter may have glowed about 10 thousand times brighter than it does today, which may explain why its moon Io is completely dry.
By Nikk Ogasa -
AstronomyA neutron star collision may have emitted a fast radio burst
Astronomers spotted both a fast radio burst and gravitational waves from a cosmic smashup in the same part of the sky and at about the same time.
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AstronomyThe biggest planet orbiting TRAPPIST-1 doesn’t appear to have an atmosphere
TRAPPIST-1b is hotter than astronomers expected, suggesting there’s no atmosphere to transport heat around the planet.
By Sid Perkins -
AnimalsVolcanic sulfur may make barn owls grow redder feathers
Barn owls on volcanic islands tend to have redder plumage than those on nonvolcanic islands, possibly due to an influx of sulfur in the environment.
By Jake Buehler -
MathChia seedlings verify Alan Turing’s ideas about patterns in nature
New experiments confirm that complex patterns in plants emerge from a model proposed by mathematician Alan Turing.
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MathMathematicians have finally discovered an elusive ‘einstein’ tile
After half a century, mathematicians succeed in finding an ‘einstein,’ a shape that forms a tiled pattern that never repeats.