News
- Particle Physics
This is the slowest radioactive decay ever spotted
Scientists have made the first direct observations of an exotic type of radioactive decay called two-neutrino double electron capture.
- Health & Medicine
A neural implant can translate brain activity into sentences
With electrodes in the brain, scientists translated neural signals into speech, which could someday help the speechless speak.
- Humans
Medicaid expansion may help shrink health gaps between black and white babies
States that expanded Medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act shrunk racial disparities between black and white infants, a new study shows.
By Sujata Gupta - Physics
The M87 black hole image showed the best way to measure black hole masses
The first image of M87’s black hole suggests it is 6.5 billion times the mass of the sun — close to what was expected based on how stars move around it.
- Neuroscience
The herbal supplement kratom comes with risks
The supplement kratom can cause heart racing and agitation.
- Earth
More than a million tiny earthquakes revealed in Southern California
By putting millions of tiny quakes on record, scientists hope to learn more about what triggers the big ones.
- Genetics
A genetic scorecard could predict your risk of being obese
A genetic score predicts who is at risk of severe obesity, but experts say lifestyle matters more than genes.
- Science & Society
Immigrants pave the way for the gentrification of black neighborhoods
A study using U.S. census data shows primarily Asian and Hispanic immigrants may trigger gentrification in U.S. neighborhoods.
By Sujata Gupta - Neuroscience
Dead pig brains bathed in artificial fluid showed signs of cellular life
Four hours after pigs died, the animals’ brain cell activity was restored by a sophisticated artificial system.
- Chemistry
The first type of molecule to form in the universe has been seen in space
The chemistry of the universe began with helium hydride. Scientists have just seen it in outer space for the first time.
- Science & Society
Statisticians want to abandon science’s standard measure of ‘significance’
For years, scientists have declared P values of less than 0.05 to be “statistically significant.” Now statisticians are saying the cutoff needs to go.
- Planetary Science
A 2014 meteor may have come from another solar system
Scientists have identified a possible interstellar meteor, and think it could be one of millions that have visited Earth over the planet’s history.