News
- Physics
Dissolving a puzzle
A mathematical analysis shows what it takes to remove rock fast enough to create a cavern.
- Chemistry
The nitty-gritty of diamond polishing
Researchers figure out what happens at the atomic scale when jewelers polish the hardest substance known.
- Humans
Vitamin D targets increased
A panel advises raising the dietary allowance for the nutrient, but some scientists say the new recommendations are still woefully low.
- Humans
World could heat up 4 degrees C in 50 years
Immediate and substantial action to reduce emissions would be needed to meet climate negotiators' goal of holding warming to a 2 degree Celsius increase, a new package of scientific papers concludes.
- Life
Getting dissed could be partly genetic
In marmot social networks, victimization may be to some degree heritable.
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- Space
Cosmic rebirth
Circular patterns in the universe's pervasive background radiation suggest that the Big Bang was not the beginning of the universe, but only the latest of its incarnations.
- Life
Mammal size maxed out after dinos’ demise
Opening new ecological niches led to a worldwide boom in size, up to a point.
- Health & Medicine
A few stray hairs
Brain regions that sense the world can also flick a whisker, research in mice shows, suggesting that the organ’s division of labor is not so clear-cut.
- Earth
Shuttle images reveal Egypt’s lost great lake
Radar studies of desert drainage patterns point to ancient oases in the Sahara.
- Space
How to use a pulsar to find Starbucks
Using stars as celestial beacons could be a backup if GPS ground stations failed.
- Physics
Negative temperature, infinitely hot
Physicists propose using ultracold atoms to create a thermodynamics puzzle routinely in the laboratory.
