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Climate

Cargo ships must cut their emissions in half by 2050

A new international agreement places a cap on greenhouse gas emissions from international cargo ships.

Archaeology

Tales of rampant suicide among Custer’s soldiers may be overblown

Few of Custer’s men killed themselves in the face of overwhelming Native American numbers at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, skeletal data suggest.

Health & Medicine

This is how norovirus invades the body

Norovirus targets a rare type of gut cell, a study in mice finds.

Genetics

Sweet potatoes might have arrived in Polynesia long before humans

Genetic analysis suggests that sweet potatoes were present in Polynesia over 100,000 years ago, and didn’t need help crossing the Pacific.

Physics

A key constant’s new measurement hints ‘dark photons’ don’t exist

New measurement of the fine-structure constant is the most precise yet.

Chemistry

Using laser tweezers, chemists nudged two atoms to bond

This is the first time researchers have purposefully combined two specific atoms into a molecule.

Animals

These hummingbirds aim their singing tail feathers to wow mates

Acoustic cameras reveal how male Costa’s hummingbirds can aim the sound produced by fluttering tail feathers during courtship dives.

Astronomy

With the launch of TESS, NASA will boost its search for exoplanets

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite will set the stage for the next chapter of exoplanet exploration.

Paleontology

Colorful moth wings date back to the dinosaur era

Microscopic structures that scatter light to give color to the wings of modern butterflies and moths date back almost 200 million years.

Physics

Einstein’s general relativity reveals new quirk of Mercury’s orbit

A tiny effect of general relativity on Mercury’s orbit has been calculated for the first time.

Health & Medicine

50 years on, vaccines have eliminated measles from the Americas

Thanks to high vaccination rates, measles has mostly disappeared from the Americas.

Oceans

Ocean heat waves are becoming more common and lasting longer

Over the last 100 years, the world’s oceans have sweltered through a rising number of heat waves.