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  1. Materials Science

    What causes the rainbow shimmer of ammolite gems?

    Ammolite gems’ fabulous colors arise from delicate assemblies of crystal plates.

    By Maria Temming
  2. Animals

    Woodpecker hammering is a full-body affair

    The birds grunt like tennis pros when generating their rat-a-tat, a performance strategy that may help stabilize core muscles.

    By Anna Gibbs
  3. Physics

    Water jets may break up into droplets thanks to jiggling molecules

    Streams of liquid form drops thanks to unidentified disturbances. It could be the jiggling of individual molecules.

    By Emily Conover
  4. Planetary Science

    How did Pluto capture its largest moon, Charon?

    Planetary scientist Adeene Denton runs computer simulations to investigate Pluto, the moons of Saturn and other icy bodies in the solar system.