News
- Space
A supermassive black hole shredded a star and was caught in the act
Astronomers have gotten the earliest glimpse yet of a black hole ripping up a star, a process known as a tidal disruption event.
- Materials Science
A new cooling technique relies on untwisting coiled fibers
A “twist fridge” operates via twistocaloric cooling, a technique that generates cooling by unraveling twisted strands.
- Archaeology
Ancient European households combined the rich and poor
Homes combined “haves” and “have-nots” in a male-run system, suggests a study that challenges traditional views of ancient social stratification.
- Life
How tardigrades protect their DNA to defy death
Tardigrades encase their DNA in a cloud of protective protein to shield from damage by radiation or drying out.
- Earth
Too much groundwater pumping is draining many of the world’s rivers
Too much groundwater use could push over half of pumped watersheds past an ecological tipping point by 2050, compromising aquatic ecosystems worldwide.
- Chemistry
The development of the lithium-ion battery has won the chemistry Nobel Prize
Three scientists have won the 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry for helping create lithium-ion batteries, which power everyday devices from smartphones to electric cars.
- Space
With 20 new moons, Saturn now has the most of any solar system planet
The discovery brings Saturn’s moon tally to 82. The previous record-holder, Jupiter, has 79.
- Ecosystems
Burrowing birds create pockets of rich plant life in a desert landscape
Mounds of sand dug out by birds are hot spots for plants in Peru’s Atacama Desert, possibly providing a sheltered and moist area for seed germination.
- Physics
Physics Nobel awarded for discoveries about the universe’s evolution and exoplanets
Three scientists share the 2019 Nobel Prize in physics for revealing what makes up our cosmos and for finding the first planet orbiting a sunlike star.
- Humans
Nepal is reeling from an unprecedented dengue outbreak
As climate change opens new regions to mosquitoes, Nepal suffers an outbreak of the painful viral disease that has sickened more than 9,000 people.
- Health & Medicine
Discovery of how cells sense oxygen wins the 2019 medicine Nobel
Understanding the molecular switch that lets cells cope with oxygen has implications for everything from metabolism to wound healing.
- Climate
In a climate crisis, is geoengineering worth the risks?
Some scientists say the world needs to reconsider some human-made ideas to cool the climate as dire warnings about the looming crisis ramp up.
