News
- Life
1.6-billion-year-old steroid fossils hint at a lost world of microbial life
Molecular fossils suggest the existence of a lost world of primitive eukaryotes that dominated aquatic ecosystems from at least 1.6 billion to 0.8 billion years ago.
- Astronomy
A star cluster in the Milky Way appears to be as old as the universe
Globular cluster M92 is about 13.8 billion years old, a new calculation suggests. Getting the age right could help resolve a bigger cosmic conundrum.
- Earth
Irrigation may be shifting Earth’s rotational axis
Computer simulations suggest that from 1993 to 2010 irrigation alone could have nudged the North Pole by about 78 centimeters.
- Genetics
The first gene therapy for muscular dystrophy has been approved for some kids
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared a shortened version of a gene for a muscle protein to be used in 4- and 5-year-olds with muscular dystrophy.
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The Hunga Tonga eruption sparked the highest-altitude lightning ever recorded
The plume from the 2022 eruption spawned flashes of lightning that started 20 to 30 kilometers above sea level.
- Astronomy
Alien life may be possible even at the Milky Way’s edges
Phosphorus detected far from the Milky Way’s center seems to extend the zone where life could exist in the galaxy by thousands of light-years.
- Math
Here’s how we could begin decoding an alien message using math
A new mathematical approach looks for order in strings of bits – without relying on human assumptions.
- Astronomy
In a first, JWST detected starlight from distant galaxies with quasars
Until JWST’s sharp infrared eyes came along, it wasn’t possible to see the galaxies hosting extremely bright supermassive black holes called quasars.
- Animals
DNA has revealed the origin of this giant ‘mystery’ gecko
A genetic analysis of a 19th century museum specimen, the only known example of the planet’s biggest gecko, has rewritten the animal’s backstory.
- Life
New fossils from Patagonia may rewrite the history of duck-billed dinosaurs
New findings are adding a wrinkle to researchers’ understanding of how duck-billed dinosaurs conquered the Cretaceous world.
- Physics
Physicists split bits of sound using quantum mechanics
New experiments put phonons — the tiniest bits of sound — into quantum mechanical superpositions and show they are as weird as other quantum entities.
- Climate
Why is the North Atlantic breaking heat records?
Record-breaking sea-surface temperatures off the coast of Africa may affect the 2023 hurricane season. What’s fueling the unusual heat is unclear.
