Notebook
- Animals
Wombats are the only animals whose poop is a cube. Here’s how they do it.
The elasticity of wombats’ intestines helps the creatures shape their distinctive poops.
- Astronomy
One of Earth’s shimmering dust clouds has been spotted at last
Almost 60 years after a Polish astronomer spotted clouds of dust orbiting Earth near the moon, astronomers have detected those clouds again.
- Environment
Car tires and brake pads produce harmful microplastics
Scientists surveyed tiny airborne plastics near German highways and found that bits of tires, brake pads and asphalt make up most of the particles.
- Earth
These tiny, crackly bubbles are a new type of volcanic ash
Scientists have identified a new type of volcanic ash made up of millimeter-long spheres with a crackled surface.
- Animals
50 years ago, atomic testing created otter refugees
Nuclear testing on the island of Amchitka caused hundreds of otters to be rehomed 50 years ago. Those hundreds have grown into thousands.
- Ecosystems
How researchers flinging salmon inadvertently spurred tree growth
Scientists studying salmon in Alaska flung dead fish into the forest. After 20 years, the nutrients from those carcasses sped up tree growth.
- Animals
While eating, these tiny worms release chemicals to lure their next meal
As they eat insects, one nematode species releases chemicals that attract more insect prey.
- Health & Medicine
An eye disorder may have given Leonardo da Vinci an artistic edge
An analysis of portraits believed to portray Leonardo da Vinci offers evidence that the artist had exotropia, in which one eye turns outward.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, the safety of artificial sweeteners was fiercely debated
Scientists are still learning more about the health effects of chemical sweeteners
- Animals
How nectar bats fly nowhere
Exquisitely sensitive tech makes first direct measurements of the forces of bat wingbeats.
- Tech
Self-driving cars see better with cameras that mimic mantis shrimp vision
A new type of camera that sees in polarized light across a wide range of light intensities could help make self-driving cars safer on the road.
- Plants
50 years ago, a 550-year-old seed sprouted
Old seeds can sprout new plants even after centuries of dormancy.
