News
- Animals
This hummingbird survives cold nights by nearly freezing itself solid
To survive cold Andean nights, the black metaltail saves energy by cooling itself to record-low temperatures, entering a state of suspended animation.
- Anthropology
A stray molar is the oldest known fossil from an ancient gibbon
A newly described tooth puts ancestors of these small-bodied apes in India roughly 13 million years ago.
- Animals
Sea butterflies’ shells determine how the snails swim
New aquarium videos show that sea butterflies of various shapes and sizes flutter through water differently.
- Science & Society
Creative school plans could counter inequities exposed by COVID-19
Many K–12 schools this fall are virtual, which could widen the nation’s already large opportunity gaps. What are schools doing to reach all students?
- Life
This parasitic plant eavesdrops on its host to know when to flower
Dodder plants have no leaves to sense when to bloom, so the parasites rely on a chemical cue from their hosts instead.
- Genetics
Strict new guidelines lay out a path to heritable human gene editing
But scientists say making changes in DNA that can be passed on to future generations still isn’t safe and effective, yet.
- Space
A weirdly warped planet-forming disk circles a distant trio of stars
The bizarre geometry of a disk of gas and dust around three stars in the constellation Orion could be formed by “disk tearing” or a newborn planet.
- Climate
Bering Sea winter ice shrank to its lowest level in 5,500 years in 2018
Peat cores that record five millennia of climate shifts in the Arctic region suggest recent ice loss is linked to rising carbon dioxide levels.
- Health & Medicine
Steroids reduce deaths of critically ill COVID-19 patients, WHO confirms
The finding strengthens evidence that clinicians should give the drugs to people who are severely sick from the coronavirus.
- Physics
Record-breaking gravitational waves reveal that midsize black holes do exist
The biggest merger of two black holes so far raises questions about how the pair of objects came to be.
- Animals
Flamboyant cuttlefish save their bright patterns for flirting, fighting and fleeing
A new field study of flamboyant cuttlefish shows they don’t always live up to their reputation.
- Archaeology
Stonehenge enhanced sounds like voices or music for people inside the monument
Scientists created a scale model one-twelfth the size of the ancient stone circle to study its acoustics.
