News

  1. Health & Medicine

    New studies hint that the coronavirus may be evolving to become more airborne

    More coronavirus RNA is in fine aerosols than in larger droplets, but masks can reduce the amount of virus in the air.

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  2. Animals

    Sunbirds’ dazzling feathers are hot, in both senses of the word

    Iridescent feathers reflect vivid colors. But they also become scorching hot in the sunlight, a study finds.

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  3. Archaeology

    A 1,000-year-old grave may have held a powerful nonbinary person

    A medieval grave in Finland, once thought to maybe hold a respected woman warrior, may belong to someone who didn’t have a strictly male or female identity.

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  4. Space

    Jupiter’s intense auroras superheat its upper atmosphere

    Jupiter’s hotter-than-expected upper atmosphere may be caused by high-speed charged particles slamming into the air high above the poles.

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  5. Life

    Probiotics help lab corals survive deadly heat stress

    In a lab experiment, probiotics prevented the death of corals under heat stress, suggesting beneficial microbes could help save ailing reefs.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    How different COVID-19 testing plans can help keep kids safe in school

    As children head back to school in the United States, here’s a look at various testing strategies that could keep kids safe during in-person learning.

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  7. Astronomy

    Measuring a black hole’s mass isn’t easy. A new technique could change that

    The timing of flickers in the gas and dust in a black hole’s accretion disk correlates to its mass, a new study finds.

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  8. Genetics

    An Indigenous people in the Philippines have the most Denisovan DNA

    Genetic comparisons crown the Indigenous Ayta Magbukon people as having the most DNA, 5 percent, from the mysterious ancient hominids.

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  9. Life

    Scientists have a new word for birds stealing animal hair

    Dozens of YouTube videos show birds stealing hair from dogs, cats, humans, raccoons and even a porcupine — a behavior rarely documented by scientists.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Colds and other common respiratory diseases might surge as kids return to school

    Recent historically low levels of some respiratory illnesses may lead to outbreaks this fall and winter, creating disruptions as kids return to school.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Ripples in rats’ brains tied to memory may also reduce sugar levels

    Brain signals called sharp-wave ripples have an unexpected job: influencing the body’s sugar levels, a study in rats suggests.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    6 answers to parents’ COVID-19 questions as kids return to school

    Universal masking in schools could prevent a bumpy 2021–22 schoolyear and keep kids, many of whom are too young to be vaccinated, safe, experts say.

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