News
- Archaeology
Human ancestors engraved abstract patterns
Indonesian Homo erectus carved zigzags on a shell at least 430,000 years ago.
- Cosmology
Most precise snapshot of the universe unveiled
New results from the Planck satellite provide the most detailed look yet of the makeup of the universe.
- Life
Tadpole eye transplant shows new way to grow nerves
Wiring replacement organs into the body may be as easy as discharging a biological battery, new experiments with tadpoles suggest.
- Planetary Science
Comet lander’s exploration cut short
The comet lander Philae made history with its touchdown on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, but a series of small hiccups prevented the robot from recharging its batteries, giving it only about 57 hours to explore the alien world.
- Health & Medicine
Turning the immune system on cancer
A new class of drugs uncloaks tumors in some patients, awakening home-grown cells to fight several cancer types.
- Archaeology
Golden Fleece myth was based on real events, geologists contend
Jason’s legend grew out of long-distance trade with people who used sheepskins to collect gold.
- Oceans
Robotic subs reveal thicker Antarctic sea ice
New measurements by robotic subs suggest that scientists have underestimated Antarctic sea ice thickness.
- Physics
Negative mass might not defy Einstein
Repulsive matter could have played a role in the early universe, a computational study finds.
- Chemistry
Radioactive fuel turns to goo during nuclear meltdown
Experiments reveal the atomic rearrangements that occur within uranium dioxide when nuclear reactors fail.
- Archaeology
Barley elevated Central Asian farmers to ‘the roof of the world’
Hardy western crops allowed villagers to settle in the cold, thin air atop the Tibetan Plateau.
- Neuroscience
Breathing returns to paralyzed rats
Scar tissue–busting enzyme plus rehabilitation therapy improves respiration long after rats’ initial spinal cord injuries.
- Life
Springs bring gecko stickiness to human scale
Springs of a stretchy alloy let gecko-inspired adhesives work at human scales to climb glass walls or grab space junk.
