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Animals

With a little convincing, rats can detect tuberculosis

TB-sniffing rats prove more accurate in detecting infection, especially in children, than the most commonly used diagnostic tool.

Animals

These caterpillars march. They fluff. They scare London.

Oak processionary moths have invaded England and threatened the pleasure of spring breezes.

Math

Real numbers don’t cut it in the real world, this physicist argues

Physicist Nicolas Gisin argues that real numbers don’t properly represent the natural world, which is a good thing for free will.

Climate

Globetrotting tourists are leaving a giant carbon footprint on the Earth

Globetrotters are responsible for about 8 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Health & Medicine

50 years ago, starving tumors of oxygen proposed as weapon in cancer fight

Starving cancerous tumors of oxygen was proposed to help kill them. But the approach can make some cancer cells more aggressive.

Health & Medicine

Synthetic opioids involved in more deaths than prescription opioids

Winning a ghastly contest, synthetic opioids become most common drug involved in U.S. overdose deaths, bypassing prescription opioids in 2016.

Tech

Private web browsing doesn’t mean no one is watching

Many people misunderstand what private web browsing actually is. Web browsers’ explanations don’t help.

Astronomy

Celebrity names now mark places on Pluto’s moon Charon

Pluto’s largest moon, Charon, now has 12 new names for its topological features.

Physics

How ravens caused a LIGO data glitch

Ravens pecking at frosty pipes caused a glitch in gravitational wave data.

Materials Science

A new plastic film glows to flag food contaminated with dangerous microbes

Plastic patches that glow when they touch some types of bacteria could be built into food packaging to reduce the spread of foodborne illness.

Health & Medicine

50 years on, vaccines have eliminated measles from the Americas

Thanks to high vaccination rates, measles has mostly disappeared from the Americas.

Oceans

Ocean heat waves are becoming more common and lasting longer

Over the last 100 years, the world’s oceans have sweltered through a rising number of heat waves.