News
- Health & Medicine
Microcephaly: Building a case against Zika
Zika virus is the prime suspect for Brazil’s recent surge in birth defects. New evidence in human cells strengthens the case, but more definitive proof could come this summer from Colombia, where thousands of pregnant women have been infected.
- Psychology
Psychology’s replication crisis sparks new debate
Controversy flares again about whether psychology studies survive further scrutiny.
- Astronomy
A fast radio burst’s home galaxy may not be known after all
The recently claimed host galaxy of a fast radio burst may have been signs of a snacking black hole instead, study claims.
- Astronomy
Repeating fast radio bursts recorded for the first time
Until now, ephemeral blasts of radio waves from other galaxies have never repeated; this one erupted 10 times last year.
- Oceans
Magnetism from underwater power cables doesn’t deter sea life
High-voltage power cables that ferry electricity across the seafloor do not negatively impact local fish and crabs, new studies show.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists probe Zika’s link to neurological disorder
The link between the Zika virus and Guillain-Barré syndrome is growing stronger.
- Physics
Bubble blowing gets scientific scrutiny
A new study uncovers the basic physics of blowing soap bubbles.
- Oceans
3.5 billion years ago, oceans were cool, not hot
Extensive new evidence from South Africa suggests that 3.5 billion years ago, Earth was locked in a cold spell, with isolated blasts of hydrothermal heat that may have helped incubate life.
- Particle Physics
Reactor data hint at existence of fourth neutrino
A nuclear reactor experiment in China is providing new hints that a fourth type of neutrino, one more than the standard model of physics allows, may exist.
- Genetics
‘Selfish’ DNA flouts rules of inheritance
R2d2 is selfish DNA that could skew scientists’ views of adaptation and evolution.
- Animals
Rock ant decisions swayed by six-legged social media
When rock ants start influencing each other with one-on-one social contact, a colony’s collective decisions can change.
- Agriculture
FDA to test foods for controversial herbicide
Amid controversy and conflicting studies, the FDA will test food for glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the world.
