Uncategorized
- Physics
Tiny accelerators get electrons up to speed using lasers
In a first, chip-scale accelerators revved up electrons while also confining them into a beam.
- Animals
Scientists debunked a long-standing cicada myth by analyzing their guts
The lack of obvious chewing mouthparts may have made casual observers think that adult cicadas don’t need to feed. But that’s not the case.
- Life
The inside of a rat’s eye won the 2023 Nikon Small World photo contest
The annual competition puts the spotlight on science and nature in all its smallest glory.
- Climate
Róisín Commane sleuths out greenhouse gas leaks to fight climate change
From New York City to the Arctic, atmospheric chemist Róisín Commane tries to account for the greenhouse gases in the air.
- Math
‘Is Math Real?’ asks simple questions to explore math’s deepest truths
In her latest book, mathematician Eugenia Cheng invites readers to see math as more than just right or wrong answers.
- Planetary Science
Here’s another strike against Venus having copious lightning
Past data and the Parker Solar Probe’s new discovery of weird whistler waves overturn the idea that Venus’ hellish atmosphere has a lot of lightning.
- Health & Medicine
Newly identified stem cells can lure breast cancer to the spine
A new type of stem cell discovered in mice and humans might explain why cancer that spreads to other body parts preferentially targets the spine.
- Astronomy
The black hole–powered jet in galaxy M87 is making stars explode
Hubble Space Telescope data show a surprising number of nova blasts along the jet of high-speed gas coming from the galaxy M87.
- Animals
In a first, genetically modified silkworms produced pure spider silk
An effort to engineer silkworms to produce spider silk brings us closer than ever to exploiting the extraordinary properties of this arachnid fiber.
- Neuroscience
What a look at more than 3,000 kinds of cells in the human brain tells us
A wide-reaching look at the cells that build the brain, detailed in 21 studies, showcases the brain’s cellular diversity and clues about how it works.
- Archaeology
Neandertals hunted cave lions at least 48,000 years ago
A new study reports the first direct evidence of Neandertals slaying the big cats, and the earliest evidence of any hominids killing a large predator.
- Life
Ants may be the first known insects ensnared in plastic pollution
At this point, it’s unclear whether this type of trash harms insects, but the discovery highlights the ubiquity of plastic pollution in the wild.
