Uncategorized
- Planetary Science
Europa may have much more shallow liquid water than scientists thought
Mysterious pairs of ridges scar Jupiter’s moon Europa. Analyzing a similar set in Greenland suggests shallow water is behind the features’ formation.
By Sid Perkins - Plants
These flowers lure pollinators to their deaths. There’s a new twist on how
Some jack-in-the-pulpit plants may use sex to lure pollinators. That's confusing for male fungus gnats — and deadly.
By Susan Milius - Planetary Science
Here’s how NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has spent 1 year on Mars
The first flying robot on the Red Planet arrived as a technology demonstration. It’s now a trusty scout for its rover partner, Perseverance.
By Liz Kruesi - Particle Physics
A new nuclear imaging prototype detects tumors’ faint glow
Nuclear imaging that relies on Cerenkov light could supplement standard-of-care technology for identifying location of tumors.
By Anna Gibbs - Astronomy
Crumbling planets might trigger repeating fast radio bursts
Mysterious blasts of cosmic radio waves might be due to planets sweeping extremely close to their host neutron stars.
By Liz Kruesi -
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To solve mysteries, scientists look to muons
Editor in chief Nancy Shute discusses how researchers are using subatomic particles called muons as tools for scientific discovery
By Nancy Shute - Animals
Most bats don’t echolocate in broad daylight. Here’s an exception
Egyptian fruit bats in Tel Aviv regularly navigate by sound during midday hours to avoid obstacles and forage, despite their excellent vision.
- Climate
Coastal cities around the globe are sinking
Of 99 coastal cities, nearly one-third are sinking in some places at more than a centimeter per year, making them more vulnerable to rising seas.
- Astronomy
A newly discovered planet renews debate about how some giant worlds form
An implosion of gas may have given birth to this young exoplanet, which orbits too far from its star to have been built up bit by bit, researchers say.
- Archaeology
This hieroglyph is the oldest known record of the Maya calendar
Plaster fragments with the markings date to at least 200 B.C. and indicate that the calendar system, still used today, might be centuries older.
By Anna Gibbs - Planetary Science
This is the biggest known comet in our solar system
The nucleus of comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein is about 120 kilometers across — about twice the width of Rhode Island — and is darker than coal.
By Sid Perkins