News
- Astronomy
Voyager may not have entered interstellar space, after all
Two scientists argue that Voyager 1 space probe is still in solar bubble, despite NASA’s announcements to the contrary.
- Plants
Wine corks may owe quality to gene activity
Discovery of genes that distinguish superior stoppers from inferior ones could help reverse recent global downturn in quality.
- Neuroscience
Electrode turns consciousness on and off
Woman lost awareness, though appeared awake, when her brain was stimulated near an area called the claustrum.
- Life
Domesticated animals’ juvenile appearance tied to embryonic cells
Mild defects in embryonic cells could explain physical similarities along with tameness across domesticated species.
- Anthropology
Clovis people may have hunted elephant-like prey, not just mammoths
The ancient American Clovis culture started out hunting elephant-like animals well south of New World entry points, finds in Mexico suggest.
- Health & Medicine
HIV reemerges in ‘cured’ child
The discovery spotlights limits in detecting the clandestine germ and raises questions about whether HIV can ever truly be cured.
- Oceans
Saharan dust explains Bahamas’ paradoxical existence
Windswept dust from the Sahara Desert may fertilize bacteria that built the Bahamas.
- Cosmology
Lab version of early universe fails to solve lithium problem
An experiment that imitated conditions from just after the Big Bang failed to explain why observed amounts of lithium don’t match those expected from theory.
- Environment
Decline in birds linked to common insecticide
In addition to harming bee populations, neonicotinoid insecticides may also be detrimental to bug-eating birds.
- Life
Fiber optics in mammals’ eyes separate colors
Specialized cells in the retina separate different wavelengths of light to enable sharp vision during the day without harming night vision.
- Life
Gecko adhesion takes electric turn
Challenging a favored theory, measurements suggest that electrostatic interactions make gecko feet supersticky.
- Environment
Microplastics lodge in crab gills and guts
Crabs can absorb microplastic particles through their gills and by eating polluted mussels.
