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Earth

2019 was the second-warmest year on record

2019 was the second-warmest year on record, ending a decade that topped 140 years of heat records.

Space

A second planet may orbit Proxima Centauri

The star closest to the sun may harbor another planet, this one much more massive and colder than Earth.

Life

The ‘Blob,’ a massive marine heat wave, led to an unprecedented seabird die-off

Scientists have linked thousands of dead common murres in 2015–2016 to food web changes caused by a long-lasting marine heat wave nicknamed the Blob.

Anthropology

Neandertals dove and harvested clamshells for tools near Italy’s shores

The discovery of sharpened shells broadens the reputation of Stone Age human relatives: Neandertals weren’t just one-trick mammoth hunters.

Neuroscience

A parasite that makes mice unafraid of cats may quash other fears too

The parasite Toxoplasma gondii can mess with all sorts of mice behaviors and make the rodents fearless in many situations.

Microbes

Microbes slowed by one drug can rapidly develop resistance to another

Hunkering down in a dormant, tolerant state may make it easier for infectious bacteria to develop resistance to antibiotics.

Archaeology

After the Notre Dame fire, scientists get a glimpse of the cathedral’s origins

Researchers will tackle the scientific questions behind rebuilding Notre Dame, and learn more about its history.

Space

This ancient stardust is the oldest ever to be examined in a lab

Tiny grains of stardust that formed long before our solar system are giving new insight into star formation in the Milky Way.

Physics

The fastest-spinning object ever made could help spot quantum friction in a vacuum

Scientists have developed a torque sensor made with a nanoparticle that can spin more than 300 billion times a minute.

Animals

Australian fires have incinerated the habitats of up to 100 threatened species

Hundreds of fires that are blazing across the continent’s southeast have created an unprecedented ecological disaster, scientists say.