Uncategorized
- Anthropology
African hominid fossils show ancient steps toward a two-legged stride
New Ardipithecus ramidus fossils reveal how hominids were shifting toward humanlike walking more than 4 million years ago.
- Physics
Supernovas show the universe expands at the same rate in all directions
Analyzing supernovas indicates that expansion rates agree within 1 percent across large regions of sky.
- Health & Medicine
A ban on artificial trans fats in NYC restaurants appears to be working
New Yorkers’ levels of artificial trans fats dropped, especially in people who ate out the most, after a citywide ban on the fats in restaurant foods.
- Animals
The world’s largest bee has been rediscovered after 38 years
Researchers rediscovered the world’s largest bee living in the forests of an island of Indonesia.
- Climate
Dueling dates for a huge eruption reignite the debate over dinosaurs’ death
New dating techniques for the Deccan Traps volcanic eruptions disagree on whether they were the main culprit in the dinosaurs’ demise.
- Paleontology
A deer-sized T. rex ancestor shows how fast tyrannosaurs became giants
A newly found dinosaur called Moros intrepidus fills a hole in the evolutionary history of tyrannosaurs, helping narrow when the group sized up.
- Chemistry
Why kids may be at risk from vinyl floors and fire-resistant couches
Children from homes with all vinyl floors and flame-retardant sofas show higher levels of some synthetic chemicals in their bodies than other kids.
- Artificial Intelligence
Why a data scientist warns against always trusting AI’s scientific discoveries
Artificial intelligence that helps make scientific discoveries needs to get better at admitting its uncertainty, Genevera Allen says.
- Planetary Science
Neptune’s smallest moon may be a chip off another moon
Neptune’s tiniest moon probably formed when a comet hit a larger moon.
- Life
Physics explains how pollen gets its stunning diversity of shapes
These pollen patterns can all be explained by one simple trick of physics: phase separation.
- Planetary Science
Mars’ lake may need an underground volcano to exist
If a lake under Martian ice is real, there must be a subsurface magma pool to keep conditions warm enough for water to remain liquid, scientists say.
- Physics
The quest for quasicrystals is a physics adventure tale
In ‘The Second Kind of Impossible,’ physicist Paul Steinhardt recounts his journey to find quasicrystals in nature.
