News
- Astronomy
Turning space images into music makes astronomy more accessible
Music created from telescope data helps people with blindness and visual impairments experience the wonders of astronomy, and could aid research.
- Health & Medicine
The FDA has approved the first treatment for Ebola
Lab-made antibodies developed by Regeneron marshal an immune response and curb the Ebola virus’s ability to infect cells.
- Space
A spherical star cluster has surprisingly few heavy elements
A globular cluster in the nearby Andromeda galaxy challenges conventional wisdom about how galaxies form.
- Environment
How planting 70 million eelgrass seeds led to an ecosystem’s rapid recovery
The study is a blueprint for restoration efforts that capitalize on seagrass habitats’ capacity to store carbon and that can be replicated elsewhere.
- Physics
The first room-temperature superconductor has finally been found
A compound of carbon, hydrogen and sulfur conducts electricity without resistance up to 15° C, but there’s a catch: It works only under high pressure.
- Plants
How Venus flytraps store short-term ‘memories’ of prey
Glowing Venus flytraps reveal how calcium buildup in the cells of leaves acts as a short-term “memory” that helps the plants identify prey.
- Animals
Glowing blue helps shield this tardigrade from harmful ultraviolet light
Tardigrades have a newly discovered trick up their sleeve: fluorescence.
- Animals
Pufferfish may be carving mysterious ‘crop circles’ near Australia
In 2011, scientists discovered that tiny pufferfish were sculpting Japan’s underwater “mystery circles.” Now, more circles have emerged in Australia.
- Physics
Fundamental constants place a new speed limit on sound
Physicists propose a new maximum rate that sound waves can travel under conditions normally found on Earth — 36 kilometers per second.
- Science & Society
Easy interventions like revamping forms help people show up to court
A new study shows that simple behavioral interventions called nudges can help people avoid a missed court appearance and resulting arrest warrant.
- Space
The asteroid Bennu’s brittle boulders may make grabbing a sample easier
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is about to collect a bit of asteroid Bennu. Here’s why it’s good that new research suggests its boulders are brittle.
- Oceans
Large-scale changes in Earth’s climate may originate in the Pacific
A new study suggests that the melting of Alaska’s glaciers into the North Pacific could have far-ranging effects on ocean circulation and the climate.
