Uncategorized
- Astronomy
How a meteor shower helped solve the case of the vanishing comet
A missing comet has been linked to a long-lost meteor shower, helping astronomers recover both.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum video chat links scientists on two different continents
A Sept. 29 ultrasecure quantum video chat demonstrates the potential for quantum communications across the globe.
- Astronomy
Ice in space might flow like honey and bubble like champagne
Zapping simulated space ice with imitation starlight makes the ice act more like a liquid than a solid, meaning similar ices in space might be good places for organic chemistry.
- Oceans
Castaway critters rafted to U.S. shores aboard Japan tsunami debris
Researchers report finding 289 living Japanese marine species that washed up on American shores on debris from the 2011 East Japan earthquake and tsunami.
- Climate
Tropical forests have flipped from sponges to sources of carbon dioxide
Analyses of satellite images suggest that degraded forests now release more carbon than they store.
- Genetics
Ancient boy’s DNA pushes back date of earliest humans
Genes from South African fossils suggest humans emerged close to 300,000 years ago.
- Genetics
A mutation may explain the sudden rise in birth defects from Zika
A mutation in a protein that helps Zika exit cells may play a big role in microcephaly.
- Physics
Trio of detectors tracks gravitational waves to their home
LIGO and Virgo spot spacetime ripples in their first joint detection.
- Tech
Origami outfits help these bots change tasks swiftly
These robots change shape by slipping into different origami exoskeletons.
- Paleontology
This giant marsupial was a seasonal migrant
A new analysis suggests that Diprotodon optatum, a giant plant-eating marsupial that went extinct about 40,000 years ago, migrated long distances, much like today’s zebras and wildebeests.
- Animals
To test sleep, researchers don’t let sleeping jellyfish lie
Upside-down jellyfish are the first known animals without a brain to enter a sleeplike state.
- Physics
Turning up the heat on electrons reveals an elusive physics phenomenon
Heating a strip of platinum creates a “spin current” in the material’s electrons due to the spin Nernst effect.
