Notebook

Animals

Simple change to fishing nets could save endangered whales’ lives

Making industrial fishing ropes weaker would reduce humpback and right whale bycatch by almost three-quarters

Animals

Boa suffocation is merely myth

Boa constrictors don’t suffocate prey; they block blood flow, says a new study that shatters a common myth about the snakes.

Astronomy

24-eyed telescope takes full-sky movies every night

The Evryscope, a 24-telescope array in northern Chile, will nearly continuously watch for changes in the southern sky.

Neuroscience

Claim of memory transfer made 50 years ago

Scientist’s claims of transferred memories were more fiction than fact.

Animals

First known venomous frogs stab with toxin-dripping lip spikes

Two Brazilian frogs jab foes with venoms more deadly than pit vipers'.

Climate

Iceless Arctic summers now expected by 2050s

The Arctic Ocean will have its first ice-free summer in the 2050s, nine years earlier than previously forecast, according to improved simulations.

Health & Medicine

The five basic tastes have sixth sibling: oleogustus

Scientists dub the taste of fat oleogustus.

Genetics

Wolves in jackals’ clothing

Africa’s golden jackals are really a species of wolf and deserve a name change, DNA evidence indicates.

Astronomy

Distant star has northern lights–like display

A dim star shows signs of auroral lights, the first detected on a body that’s not a planet or moon.

Animals

Toddler seahorses are bumbling and adorable

Rice-grain-sized youngsters can’t yet get a grasp with their tails.

Planetary Science

First craters on Mars spotted 50 years ago

Fifty years ago, Mariner 4 revealed that the Red Planet was peppered with craters. Now we know pockmarks are common on many other planets and moons, too.

Environment

Fracking doesn’t always go to great depths

Fracking at shallow depths is unexpectedly common in the United States and raises new concern for drinking water contamination.