News
- Planetary Science
New Horizons gears up for its close encounter with Ultima Thule
On January 1, the New Horizons spacecraft will fly by Ultima Thule, the first small Kuiper Belt object ever to get a close visitor.
- Physics
These sound waves can levitate and move particles in new ways
A new machine that levitates objects using sound waves can manipulate several particles at once.
- Health & Medicine
Tumor ‘organoids’ may speed cancer treatment
Growing mini tumors in a lab dish, researchers can screen compounds to find promising combinations for treating rare cancers.
- Climate
New research may upend what we know about how tornadoes form
New data on the birth of tornadoes suggest that the twisters don’t form from the top down.
- Animals
Endangered northern bettongs aren’t picky truffle eaters
Without the northern bettong, the variety of Australia’s truffle-producing fungi could take a hit, a new study finds.
- Animals
Counting the breaths of wild porpoises reveals their revved-up metabolism
A new method tracks harbor porpoises’ breathing to collect rare information on the energy needs of the marine mammals.
- Neuroscience
Big data reveals hints of how, when and where mental disorders start
The first wave of data from the PsychENCODE project holds new clues to how and when psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia emerge.
- Archaeology
Corn domestication took some unexpected twists and turns
A DNA study challenges the idea people fully tamed maize in Mexico before the plant spread.
- Plants
Hybrid rice engineered with CRISPR can clone its seeds
New research has created self-cloning hybrid rice, raising hopes of higher food production.
- Health & Medicine
Babies born in opioid withdrawal have unusually small heads
Infants born dependent on opioids had heads that were smaller than babies whose moms didn’t use the drugs during pregnancy.
- Humans
‘Little Foot’ skeleton analysis reignites debate over the hominid’s species
Long-awaited analyses of the Little Foot skeleton have researchers disagreeing over resurrecting a defunct species name.
- Earth
Here’s what was surprising about Kilauea’s 3-month-long eruption
Researchers revealed new insight into the Hawaiian volcano’s most recent eruption.
