Uncategorized
- Astronomy
Why it’s good news that Pluto doesn’t have rings
The New Horizons team searched for rings around Pluto, and found nothing. That suggests the spacecraft’s next destination might be ring-free too.
- Anthropology
The rise of agricultural states came at a big cost, a new book argues
In ‘Against the Grain,’ a political scientist claims early states took a toll on formerly mobile groups’ health and happiness.
- Health & Medicine
Six in seven contact lens wearers take unnecessary risks with their eyes
A lot of contact wearers are not practicing healthy habits with their lenses, a national survey finds.
- Physics
Trio wins physics Nobel Prize for gravitational wave detection
Pioneers of LIGO collaboration win for finding spacetime ripples from two spiraling black holes.
- Paleontology
A baby ichthyosaur’s last meal revealed
A new look at an old fossil shows that some species of baby ichthyosaurs may have dined on squid.
- Life
Cracking the body clock code wins trio a Nobel Prize
Circadian clock researchers take home the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.
- Environment
Radioactive material from Fukushima disaster turns up in a surprising place
Radioactive cesium is reaching the ocean through salty groundwater.
- 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.
- 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.
