Notebook
- Science & Society
Biologist Kate Rubins’ big dream takes her to the space station
Molecular biologist Kate Rubins led a 14-person virology lab before becoming an astronaut. She heads to the International Space Station on June 24.
- Tech
3-D TVs are a work in need of progress
In 1966, scientists predicted 3-D TVs would broadcast life-size holograms by 1984.
By Erin Wayman - Life
Fruit fly’s giant sperm is quite an exaggeration
Giant sperm, about 20 times a male fruit fly’s body length, could make the insects the champs of supersized sexual ornaments.
By Susan Milius - Physics
The center of Earth is younger than the outer surface
Einstein’s general theory of relativity predicts the center of the Earth is two years younger than the crust.
- Oceans
The Arctic Ocean is about to get spicier
Variations in the saltiness and temperature of seawater of the same density, called spiciness, could increase as the Arctic Ocean warms.
- Health & Medicine
With easy e-cig access, teen vaping soars
The vast majority of U.S. states ban sales or distribution of e-cigarette products to minors. Still, it’s no sweat for teens to buy them online.
By Janet Raloff - Astronomy
Fast-moving star duo is heading out of the Milky Way
A pair of hyperfast stars hurtling through a remote region of the Milky Way might have been orphaned after a long-ago galactic collision, a new study suggests.
- Astronomy
Earth has nothing on this exoplanet’s lightning storms
Lightning storms far more intense than any on Earth might explain radio waves that once came from a planet 124 light-years away.
- Health & Medicine
Early work on human growth hormone paved way for synthetic versions
In 1966, researchers reported the complete chemical structure of human growth hormone. Today synthetic growth hormone is used to treat growth hormone deficiency.
- Microbes
Leptospirosis bacterium still haunts swimming holes
Bacterial scourges lurk in warm recreational waters.
- Animals
New species of hairy weevil named after Chewbacca
A new weevil species,Trigonopterus chewbacca, joins the ranks of insects with a Star Wars moniker.
- Life
Studying cheese reveals how microbes interact
Microbiologist Rachel Dutton uses cheese rinds to study how microbes form communities.