Uncategorized
- Earth
Earth’s mantle may be hotter than thought
Earth’s mantle is warmer than previously thought, suggests a new experiment that better accounts for water content in rocks.
- Computing
Winning against a computer isn’t in the cards for poker pros
Poker-playing computers beat professional players at heads-up no-limit Texas Hold’em.
- Life
Origin of photosynthesis may go further back than estimates from 50 years ago
Analyzing ancient rocks has helped push back the date when photosynthetic organisms first emerged by nearly a billion years.
- Astronomy
Hydrogen volcanoes might boost planets’ potential for life
Volcanoes that spew hydrogen could increase the number of potentially habitable planets in the universe.
- Health & Medicine
Colorectal cancer is on the rise among younger adults
Colorectal cancer rates in the United States have increased in people younger than 50.
- Animals
Wild elephants clock shortest shut-eye recorded for mammals
Among mammals, wild elephants may need the least amount of sleep, new measurements suggest.
By Susan Milius - Paleontology
Oldest microfossils suggest life thrived on Earth about 4 billion years ago
A new claim for the oldest microfossils on Earth suggests that life may have originated in hydrothermal vents, but some scientists have doubts.
By Meghan Rosen - Planetary Science
Saturn’s ‘Death Star’ moon may not conceal ocean after all
A lack of cracks on Mimas suggests that the icy moon of Saturn doesn’t conceal a subsurface ocean of liquid water.
- Health & Medicine
DNA may offer rapid road to Zika vaccine
Researchers are pursuing multiple vaccine strategies for blocking Zika infection.
By Meghan Rosen - Life
Bacteria genes offer new strategy for sterilizing mosquitoes
Two genes in Wolbachia bacteria could be used to sterilize mosquitoes that transmit Zika.
- Astronomy
Black hole enjoys fantastically long stellar feast
A supermassive black hole about 1.8 billion light-years away has been gorging on the same star for a record-breaking decade.
- Earth
Newly identified continent Zealandia faces a battle for recognition
Geologists make the case for a new continent, dubbed Zealandia, found largely submerged beneath the southwestern Pacific Ocean.