Uncategorized
- Animals
How tuatara live so long and can withstand cool weather
Tuatara may look like your average lizard, but they’re not. Now, researchers have deciphered the rare reptiles’ genome, or genetic instruction book.
By Jake Buehler - Astronomy
50 years ago, Mauna Kea opened for astronomy. Controversy continues
Current plans to build a new telescope on the volcano sparked the latest conflict.
- Animals
Penguin poop spotted from space ups the tally of emperor penguin colonies
High-res satellite images reveal eight new breeding sites for the world’s largest penguins on Antarctica, including the first reported ones offshore.
- Health & Medicine
Five big questions about when and how to open schools amid COVID-19
Researchers weigh in on how to get children back into classrooms in a low-risk way.
- Cosmology
‘The End of Everything’ explores the ways the universe could perish
As Katie Mack explains in The End of Everything, the universe’s demise could be disastrously violent or deadly calm.
- Life
Wild bees add about $1.5 billion to yields for just six U.S. crops
Native bees help pollinate blueberries, cherries and other crops on commercial farms.
By Susan Milius - Archaeology
A submerged Inca offering hints at Lake Titicaca’s sacred role
Divers found a stone box holding a figurine and a gold item, highlighting Lake Titicaca’s sacred status to the Inca.
By Bruce Bower - Life
Water beetles can live on after being eaten and excreted by a frog
After being eaten by a frog, some water beetles can scurry through the digestive tract and emerge on the other side, alive and well.
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Data visualizations turn numbers into a story
Editor in chief Nancy Shute writes about the power of using data visualizations in storytelling.
By Nancy Shute - Animals
Some spiders may spin poisonous webs laced with neurotoxins
The sticky silk threads of spider webs may be hiding a toxic secret: potent neurotoxins that paralyze a spider’s prey.
- Health & Medicine
Heavy drinking drove hundreds of thousands of Americans to early graves
From 2011 to 2015, more than 93,000 U.S. deaths per year could be tied to excessive alcohol use, researchers say.
- Health & Medicine
Hydroxychloroquine can’t stop COVID-19. It’s time to move on, scientists say
Hydroxychloroquine doesn’t work as antiviral or a treatment for COVID-19, an abundance of scientific data suggest.