Notebook
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, a flu pandemic spurred vaccine research
A half-century after the Hong Kong flu pandemic, scientists are getting closer to a universal vaccine.
- Tech
A sensor inspired by an African thumb piano could root out bogus medicines
An inexpensive, user-friendly device that’s based on an mbira could help identify counterfeit and contaminated medications.
- Genetics
A recount of human genes ups the number to at least 46,831
A new estimate of the number of human genes adds in some RNA-producing genes.
- Ecosystems
Confused mayflies wreak havoc on a Pennsylvania bridge
Cleaning a river in central Pennsylvania brought back mayflies, which now pose a threat to motorists crossing a bridge.
- Animals
These songbirds violently fling and then impale their prey
A loggerhead shrike that skewers small animals on barbed wire gives mice whiplash shakeups.
- Astronomy
Jocelyn Bell Burnell wins big physics prize for 1967 pulsar discovery
Astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell speaks about winning the Breakthrough Prize, impostor syndrome and giving back.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, a pessimistic view for heart transplants
Surgeon Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful human-to-human heart transplant in 1967. In 1968, he predicted that patients would survive five years at best. Fortunately, he was wrong.
- Physics
Here’s how to bend spaghetti to your will
Researchers have discovered how to snap spaghetti sticks without sending bits of pasta flying.
- Animals
There’s method in a firefly’s flashes
Fireflies use their flashing lights for mating and maybe even to ward away predators.
- Life
How salamanders can regrow nearly complete tails but lizards can’t
Differences in stem cells in the spinal cord explain the amphibians’ ability.
- Science & Society
Cheese found in an Egyptian tomb is at least 3,200 years old
Solid cheese preserved in an ancient Egyptian tomb may be the world’s oldest.
- Earth
In 1968, scientists tried taming hurricanes
For over 20 years, the U.S. government tried to subdue hurricanes through cloud seeding, with mixed results.
