News
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New discoveries are bringing the world of pterosaurs to life
The latest clues hint at where pterosaurs — the first vertebrates to fly — came from, how they evolved, what they ate and more.
- Life
Swarming locusts can deploy a chemical to avoid being cannibalized
Releasing a “don’t-eat-me” pheromone signals a locust has become a toxic treat. The finding could lead to new ways to control destructive swarms.
- Health & Medicine
The U.S. COVID-19 public health emergency is ending. What does that mean?
The declaration, made early in the pandemic, made tests, vaccines and treatments free to all. On May 11, the proclamation ends.
- Health & Medicine
Women who’ve had breast cancer can safely pause treatment for pregnancy
Hormone therapy cannot be taken during pregnancy. A new study is reassuring for women who’ve had breast cancer and want to try for a baby.
- Health & Medicine
The FDA has approved the first-ever vaccine for RSV
GSK’s shot, for those 60 and over, can protect against severe respiratory syncytial virus. Other vaccines, including to protect newborns, are in the works.
- Astronomy
For the first time, astrophysicists have caught a star eating a planet
A burst of light and a cloud of dust are signs that a star 12,000 light-years away swallowed a planet up to 10 times the mass of Jupiter.
- Archaeology
Ancient human DNA was extracted from a 20,000-year-old deer tooth pendant
Insights into Stone Age people’s lives may soon come from a new, nondestructive DNA extraction method.
- Animals
A 2,200-year-old poop time capsule reveals secrets of the Andean condor
Guano that has accumulated in a cliffside Andean condor nest for 2,200 years reveals how the now-vulnerable birds responded to a changing environment.
- Health & Medicine
Ultrasound allows a chemotherapy drug to enter the human brain
An early-stage clinical trial demonstrates a technique for getting a powerful chemotherapy drug past the usually impenetrable blood-brain barrier.
- Neuroscience
Neuroscientists decoded people’s thoughts using brain scans
The finding may lead to better communication aids for people who can’t communicate easily. It also raises privacy concerns.
- Health & Medicine
Mouse hair turns gray when certain stem cells get stuck
Stem cells involved in giving hair its color must keep moving and changing maturity levels to prevent graying, a mouse study suggests.
- Oceans
Satellite data reveal nearly 20,000 previously unknown deep-sea mountains
By looking for tiny bumps in sea level caused by the gravity of subsurface mountains, researchers have roughly doubled the number of known seamounts.
