News
- Anthropology
Homo erectus, not humans, may have invented the barbed bone point
Carved artifacts excavated from Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge suggest now-extinct hominids made barbed bone points long before humans did, researchers say.
- Anthropology
How environmental changes may have helped make ancient humans more adaptable
An East African sediment core unveils ecological changes underlying a key Stone Age transition.
- Space
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx survived its risky mission to grab a piece of an asteroid
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft just tried to grab a piece of asteroid Bennu. If successful, the spacecraft will return the sample to Earth in 2023.
- Animals
The diabolical ironclad beetle can survive getting run over by a car. Here’s how
The diabolical ironclad beetle is an incredibly tough little creature. A peek inside its exoskeleton reveals what makes it virtually uncrushable.
- Animals
Naked mole-rats invade neighboring colonies and steal babies
Naked mole-rats invade neighboring colonies, steal pups and evict any others left behind. The show of force may be central to their underground lifestyle.
- Oceans
Even the deepest, coldest parts of the ocean are getting warmer
Deep-sea temperatures seem to be rising, but it’s too soon to say whether that’s a result of climate change caused by humans, researchers say.
- Animals
Fire ants build little syphons out of sand to feed without drowning
To escape a watery death, some fire ants use build sand structures that draw the insects’ sugary, liquid food out of containers and to a safer place.
- Animals
A rope bridge restored a highway through the trees for endangered gibbons
When critically endangered Hainan gibbons started making dangerous leaps across a new gully, researchers came up with an alternative route.
- Humans
We still don’t know what COVID-19 immunity means or how long it lasts
Without knowing how long immunity lasts, it may be impossible to reach herd immunity without a vaccine or an extremely high death toll.
- Chemistry
Heating deltamethrin may help it kill pesticide-resistant mosquitoes
A simple chemical trick creates a much faster-acting form of a common insecticide, which could help fight malaria and other mosquito-borne illnesses.
- Health & Medicine
Remdesivir doesn’t reduce COVID-19 deaths, a large WHO trial finds
An international study of more than 11,000 people finds that remdesivir doesn’t prevent deaths from COVID-19, but the drug may still be useful.
- Health & Medicine
Can supplements really help fight COVID-19? Here’s what we know and don’t know
Unless you’re deficient, there’s little evidence yet for taking Vitamin D and other supplements to treat or prevent a coronavirus infection.
