Uncategorized
- Physics
Work on complex systems, including Earth’s climate, wins the physics Nobel Prize
Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann pioneered work on computer simulations of Earth’s climate. Giorgio Parisi found hidden patterns in disordered complex materials.
- Chemistry
Radiometric dating puts pieces of the past in context. Here’s how
Carbon dating and other techniques answer essential questions about human history, our planet and the solar system.
By Sid Perkins - Quantum Physics
Scientists are one step closer to error-correcting quantum computers
In a quantum computer made with trapped ions, multiple quantum bits were combined into one to detect mistakes.
- Health & Medicine
A custom brain implant lifted a woman’s severe depression
An experimental device interrupts brain activity linked to a woman’s low mood. The technology, she said, has changed her lens on life.
- Health & Medicine
Discovering how we sense temperature and touch wins the 2021 medicine Nobel Prize
Finding sensors on nerve cells that detect temperature and pressure nets California scientists David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian a Nobel Prize.
By Tina Hesman Saey and Freda Kreier -
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Good things come to astronomers who wait
Editor in chief Nancy Shute discusses the long-awaited launch of the James Webb Space Telescope and an update on our SN 10: Scientists to Watch.
By Nancy Shute - Health & Medicine
A new antiviral pill cuts COVID-19 hospitalization and death rates
Merck says its drug, molnupiravir, stops viral replication and can be taken right after a COVID-19 diagnosis.
- Chemistry
Ink analysis reveals Marie Antoinette’s letters’ hidden words and who censored them
Chemical analyses of letters written by Marie Antoinette solve a French Revolution mystery: Who censored the queen?
- Climate
2020 babies may suffer up to seven times as many extreme heat waves as 1960s kids
Children born in 2020 will bear a much heavier burden from climate change during their lifetimes than those born in 1960, a new analysis finds.
- Anthropology
50 years ago, X-rays revealed what ancient Egyptians kept under wraps
In the 1970s, scientists used X-rays to unravel mummy secrets. Now, advances in technology are providing unprecedented views of ancient Egyptians.
By Bruce Bower - Earth
A volcano-induced rainy period made Earth’s climate dinosaur-friendly
New physical evidence links eruptions 234 million to 232 million years ago to climate changes that let dinosaurs start their climb to dominance.
By Megan Sever