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Planetary Science

These are the first visible-light images of Venus’ surface captured from space

Cameras aboard NASA’s Parker Solar Probe managed to peer through Venus’ thick clouds to photograph the planet’s surface.

Planetary Science

50 years ago, Arecibo got an unprecedented view of Venus’ surface

Over its 57-year lifetime, Arecibo’s radar system measured the mountains around Venus’ middle, studied the textures of many rocky bodies in outer space and more.

Genetics

Gene therapies for sickle cell disease come with hope and challenges

Pediatrician Erica Esrick discusses existing sickle cell treatments and an ongoing clinical trial.

Animals

A diamondlike structure gives some starfish skeletons their strength

Electron microscope images of knobby starfish’s calcite skeletons reveal an unexpected architecture that compensates for the mineral’s brittleness.

Health & Medicine

Omicron crushed delta in the U.S. These numbers show just how fast it happened

It took the delta coronavirus variant eight weeks to make up more than 50 percent of new U.S. COVID-19 infections, estimates show. It took omicron two.

Paleontology

Fossils reveal what may be the oldest known case of the dino sniffles

A respiratory infection that spread to air sacs in the vertebrae of a 150-million-year-old sauropod likely led to now-fossilized bone lesions.

Archaeology

Homo sapiens may have reached Europe 10,000 years earlier than previously thought

Archaeological finds in an ancient French rock-shelter suggest migrations to the continent started long before Neandertals died out.

Earth

Weird ‘superionic’ matter could make up Earth’s inner core

Computer simulations suggest that matter that behaves like a mash-up of solid and liquid could explain oddities of Earth’s center.

Genetics

How the Human Genome Project revolutionized understanding of our DNA

Completion of the Human Genome Project was a huge milestone, but there’s more work to do to ensure equitable access to the information in our DNA.

Genetics

How one scientist aims to boost Black people’s representation in genetic datasets

Through information sharing, geneticist Tshaka Cunningham wants to build trust and encourage more Black people to engage with the medical community.

Paleontology

Fossils reveal that pterosaurs puked pellets

Fish scale–filled pellets found by two pterosaurs are the first fossil evidence the flying reptiles regurgitated undigestible food, like some modern birds.

Animals

Deep-sea Arctic sponges feed on fossilized organisms to survive

Slow-moving sponges, living deep in the Arctic Ocean where no currents deliver food, scavenge a carpet of long-dead critters.