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Life

Spraying bats with ‘good’ bacteria may combat deadly white nose syndrome

Nearly half of bats infected with white nose syndrome survived through winter after being spritzed with antifungal bacteria, a small study finds.

Planetary Science

How NASA has kept Apollo moon rocks safe from contamination for 50 years

NASA wouldn’t let our reporter touch the Apollo moon rocks. Here’s why that’s a good thing.

Planetary Science

Apollo astronauts left trash, mementos and experiments on the moon

Here’s what planetary scientists are learning from the remains of Apollo outposts, and how archeologists hope to preserve it.

Planetary Science

Celebrate the moon landing anniversary with books that go beyond the small step

New books about Apollo 11 and the mission to the moon offer something for everyone, from astronomy lovers to fans of graphic novels and self-improvement buffs.

Health & Medicine

Tiny glasses help reveal how praying mantises can see in 3-D

Newfound nerve cells in praying mantises help detect different views that each of the insects’ eyes sees, a mismatch that creates depth perception.

Tech

This solar-powered device produces energy and cleans water at the same time

Someday, the two-for-one machine could help curb electricity and freshwater shortages.

Earth

3 questions seismologists are asking after the California earthquakes

After back-to-back quakes, scientists are scrambling to figure out which faults ruptured and what it means for future California quake activity.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence has now pretty much conquered poker

A new artificial intelligence called Pluribus is a real card shark at six-player no-limit Texas Hold’em.

Animals

Southern right whale moms and calves may whisper to evade orcas

Mother-calf whale pairs call to each other quietly to stay in touch while avoiding attracting the attention of predators, a study suggests.

Paleontology

An ancient bird found encased in amber had a bizarrely long toe

A 99-million-year-old fossil holds a bird with an oddly long toe, which might have helped the critter hook hard-to-reach dinners.

Planetary Science

Hayabusa2 may have just snagged bits of asteroid Ryugu’s insides

In its second sampling attempt, Hayabusa2 became the first spacecraft to try to pick up some of an asteroid’s guts.

Neuroscience

Both fish and humans have REM-like sleep

Sleeping zebrafish have brain and body activity similar to snoozing mammals, suggesting that sleep evolved at least 450 million years ago.