Uncategorized

Microbes

A global survey finds that the Arctic Ocean is a hot spot for viruses

Scientists mapped virus diversity around the world’s oceans. That knowledge may be key to making better climate simulations.

Chemistry

50 years ago, scientists fought over element 104’s discovery

A conflict known as the Transfermium Wars marked a contentious struggle over the search for new elements beginning in the 1960s.

Health & Medicine

U.S. measles cases hit a record high since the disease was eliminated in 2000

Each year from 2010 to 2017, 21 million children did not get vaccinated against measles, according to UNICEF.

Genetics

A marine parasite’s mitochondria lack DNA but still churn out energy

Missing mitochondrial DNA inside a parasitic marine microbe turned up inside the organism’s nucleus.

Archaeology

Excavations show hunter-gatherers lived in the Amazon more than 10,000 years ago

Early foragers may have laid the foundation for farming’s ascent in South America’s tropical forests.

Particle Physics

This is the slowest radioactive decay ever spotted

Scientists have made the first direct observations of an exotic type of radioactive decay called two-neutrino double electron capture.

Health & Medicine

A neural implant can translate brain activity into sentences

With electrodes in the brain, scientists translated neural signals into speech, which could someday help the speechless speak.

Life

See beautiful fossils from top Cambrian sites around the world

Troves of Cambrian fossils are known at more than 50 places around the world. Here are five standout spots.

Planetary Science

NASA’s Mars InSight lander may have the first recording of a Marsquake

NASA’s InSight mission appears to have detected a Marsquake for the first time.

Humans

Medicaid expansion may help shrink health gaps between black and white babies

States that expanded Medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act shrunk racial disparities between black and white infants, a new study shows.

Life

‘An Elegant Defense’ explores the immune system’s softer side

The lives of four people helped or harmed by their body’s natural defenses illustrate why immunology has become one of the hottest fields in science.

Astronomy

Seeing very far away and hitting closer to home

Editor in Chief Nancy Shute discusses the first-ever image of a black hole and what can be done to help young children with anxiety.