Notebook
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, early organ transplants brought triumph and tragedy
In 1968, the liver transplant field had its first small successes. Now, more than 30,000 patients in the U.S. receive a donated liver each year.
- Plants
The flowers that give us chocolate are ridiculously hard to pollinate
Cacao trees are really fussy about pollination.
- Tech
Mix of metals in this Picasso sculpture provides clues to its mysterious origins
The alloys used to cast Picasso’s bronze sculptures provide a valuable piece of the puzzle in reconstructing the histories of the works of art.
- Astronomy
James Webb Space Telescope challenges artists to see in infrared
Astronomy artists face new challenges in translating James Webb’s invisible data into visuals.
- Health & Medicine
14 cattle eyeworms removed from Oregon woman’s eye
Oregon woman has the first ever eye infection with the cattle eyeworm Thelazia gulosa.
- Materials Science
Smart windows could block brightness and harness light
A new type of material pulls double-duty as window shade and solar cell.
- Physics
50 years on, nuclear fusion still hasn’t delivered clean energy
In 1968, scientists predicted that the world would soon use nuclear fusion as an energy source.
- Ecosystems
Humans are overloading the world’s freshwater bodies with phosphorus
Human activities are driving phosphorus levels in the world’s lakes and other freshwater bodies to a critical point.
- Materials Science
New textile weathers temperature shift
Reversible textile keeps skin at a comfortable temperature with thin layers of carbon and copper.
- Animals
Here’s why so many saiga antelope mysteriously died in 2015
Higher than normal temperatures turned normally benign bacteria lethal, killing hundreds of thousands of the saiga antelopes.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, IUDs were deemed safe and effective
50 year ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared intrauterine devices safe and effective, though officials didn’t know how the IUDs worked.
- Animals
18 new species of pelican spiders discovered
A researcher used old and new specimens to discover 18 species of pelican spiders from Madagascar.
