News
- Climate
A UN report says stopping climate change is possible but action is needed now
We already have a broad array of tools to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, a new report finds. Now we just have to use them.
- Space
Binary stars keep masquerading as black holes
The drive to find black holes in ever-larger astronomy datasets is leading some researchers astray.
- Humans
Where you grew up may shape your navigational skills
People raised in cities with simple, gridlike layouts were worse at navigating in a video game designed for studying the brain.
- Astronomy
When the Magellanic Clouds cozy up to each other, stars are born
The Magellanic Clouds, the two closest star-making galaxies to the Milky Way, owe much of their stellar creativity to each other.
- Genetics
We finally have a fully complete human genome
Finding the missing 8 percent of the human genome gives researchers a more powerful tool to better understand human health, disease and evolution.
- Paleontology
Mammals’ bodies outpaced their brains right after the dinosaurs died
Fossils show that mammals’ brains and bodies did not balloon together. The animals’ brains grew bigger later.
- Anthropology
North America’s oldest skull surgery dates to at least 3,000 years ago
Bone regrowth suggests the man, who lived in what’s now Alabama, survived a procedure to treat brain swelling by scraping a hole out of his forehead.
- Chemistry
Grainy ice cream is unpleasant. Plant-based nanocrystals might help
The growth of large ice crystals in ice cream produces a coarse texture. A cellulose nanocrystal stabilizer could help keep the unwelcome iciness away.
- Anthropology
Social mingling shapes how orangutans issue warning calls
The new findings hint at how modern language may have taken root in sparse communities of ancient apes and humans.
- Life
How a virus turns caterpillars into zombies doomed to climb to their deaths
By manipulating genes used in vision, a virus sends its host caterpillar on a doomed quest for sunlight, increasing the chances for viral spread.
- Life
Lost genes may help explain how vampire bats survive on blood alone
The 13 identified genes underpin a range of physiological and behavioral strategies that the bats have evolved.
- Animals
Here’s how boa constrictors squeeze their dinner without suffocating themselves
Carefully controlled breathing allows boa constrictors to pull off their signature move without cutting off their own air supply.
