News
- Health & Medicine
Marijuana and meth are getting more popular in America, but cocaine has declined
In 2006, drug users spent more on cocaine than on heroin, marijuana or methamphetamine. By 2016, marijuana expenditures had exceeded the other drugs.
- Space
For an asteroid, Ryugu has surprisingly little dust on its surface
Ryugu lacks the dust that some other space rocks have. The near-Earth asteroid may hide the fine debris inside porous rocks or eject it into space.
- Health & Medicine
Vaping may have sent 153 people to hospitals with severe lung injuries
In the last two months, 16 U.S. states have reported 153 people hospitalized with lung injuries that may be tied to vaping.
- Health & Medicine
High blood pressure throughout middle age may increase the risk of dementia
A pattern of high blood pressure during midlife followed by high or low readings in one’s golden years is linked to dementia.
- Anthropology
A tiny skull fossil suggests primate brain areas evolved separately
Digital reconstruction of a fossilized primate skull reveals that odor and vision areas developed independently starting 20 million years ago or more.
- Climate
Climate change may make El Niño and La Niña less predictable
Atlantic Niñas and Niños have been fairly reliable bellwethers for severe El Niño and La Niña events in the Pacific. A warming world may change that.
- Neuroscience
What human and mouse brains do and don’t have in common
A large comparison of human and mouse brain cells highlights key differences that could have implications for research on depression or Alzheimer’s.
- Physics
Quantum physicists have teleported ‘qutrits’ for the first time
The technique could be useful for creating a future quantum internet.
- Life
Big and bold wasp queens may create more successful colonies
A paper wasp queen’s personality and body size could help predict whether the nest she has founded will thrive.
- Neuroscience
Imaging scans show where symbols turn to letters in the brain
Scientists watched brain activity in a region where reading takes root, and saw a hierarchy of areas that give symbols both sound and meaning.
- Life
Electrodes show a glimpse of memories emerging in a brain
Nerve cells in an important memory center in the brain sync their firing and create fast ripples of activity seconds before a recollection resurfaces.
- Life
Alzheimer’s targets brain cells that help people stay awake
Nerve cells in the brain that are tied to wakefulness are destroyed in people with Alzheimer’s, a finding that may refocus dementia research.
