News
- Science & Society
A Supreme Court ruling on nuclear waste spotlights U.S. storage woes
Court ruling allows interim nuclear waste storage in Texas, but the U.S. still has no long-term plan for its 90,000 metric tons of spent fuel.
- Anthropology
‘Dragon Man’ skull may be the first from an enigmatic human cousin
Ancient proteins and DNA may peg a 146,000-year-old Chinese skull as the most complete fossil to date from Denisovans, a puzzling line of Asian hominids.
- Animals
This moth species may use the Milky Way as its guiding star
Bogong moths migrate up to 1,000 kilometers from Australian plains to mountain caves to escape the summer heat. The stars may help them get there.
- Animals
Fewer scavengers could mean more zoonotic disease
Scavenger populations are decreasing, a new study shows. That could put human health at risk.
- Astronomy
Black hole–shredded megastars power a new class of cosmic explosions
These explosions, called extreme nuclear transients, shine for longer than typical supernovas and get 30 to 1,000 times as bright.
- Science & Society
A common parenting practice may be hindering teen development
A poll shows U.S. parents are wary of unsupervised teens, but lack of independence undermines normal development, experts say.
- Climate
This paint ‘sweats’ to keep your house cool
This experimental paint reflects sunlight, emits heat and mimics sweating to cool buildings without air conditioning, even in the tropics.
- Health & Medicine
A genetic test may predict which weight loss drugs work best for patients
Variants of obesity-related genes influence how much weight patients lose on specific weight loss drugs like liraglutide, two studies report.
- Animals
This spider’s barf is worse than its bite
Most spider species subdue dinner by injecting venom from their fangs. Feather-legged lace weavers swathe prey in silk, then upchuck a killing brew.
- Neuroscience
At early ages, autism in girls and boys looks similar
A new study of more than 2,500 children under 5 found little difference in autism symptoms between boys and girls.
- Space
Here’s how a collision of star remnants launches a gleaming jet
A computer simulation shows how two neutron stars of unequal mass merge, form a black hole and spit out a jet of high energy matter.
- Physics
Rainbows of sound are a reality thanks to a new device
A plastic structure separates white noise into pitches, like a rainbow splits light into colors, offering a novel way to manipulate sound.
