All Stories by Nikk Ogasa
- Climate
Forests help reduce global warming in more ways than one
Trees are often touted as bulwarks against climate change for their capacity to sequester carbon, but that’s just one part of the story.
- Planetary Science
Diamonds may stud Mercury’s crust
Billions of years of meteorite impacts may have flash-baked much of a primitive graphite crust into precious gemstones.
- Climate
A UN report shows climate change’s escalating toll on people and nature
The latest United Nations' IPCC climate change report underscores the urgent need for action to avoid the worst consequences of global warming.
- Astronomy
A rare collision of dead stars can bring a new one to life
These carbon- and oxygen-covered stars may have formed from an unusual merging of two white dwarfs.
- Planetary Science
These are the first visible-light images of Venus’ surface captured from space
Cameras aboard NASA’s Parker Solar Probe managed to peer through Venus’ thick clouds to photograph the planet’s surface.
- Animals
Vinegar eels can synchronize swim
Swarming, swimming nematodes can move together like fish and also synchronize their wiggling — an ability rare in the animal kingdom.
- Artificial Intelligence
How AI can identify people even in anonymized datasets
A neural network identified a majority of anonymous mobile phone service subscribers using details about their weekly social interactions.
- Earth
Volcanic avalanches of rock and gas may be more destructive than previously thought
Pressures within pyroclastic flows may be as much as three times as great as observations had suggested.
- Planetary Science
Organic molecules in an ancient Mars meteorite formed via geology, not alien life
Analysis of an ancient Martian meteorite reveals that organic molecules within it were formed by geologic processes rather than alien life.
- Climate
Rice feeds half the world. Climate change’s droughts and floods put it at risk
Rice provides sustenance for billions who have no alternative, and climate change threatens to slash production. Growers will need to innovate to provide an important crop as climate whiplash brings drought and floods to fields worldwide.
- Chemistry
A pinch of saturated fat could make tempering chocolate a breeze
Adding a small amount of fatty molecules to cocoa butter could simplify the labor-intensive tempering process to create melt-in-your-mouth chocolate.
- Animals
Some wasps’ nests glow green under ultraviolet light
Some Asian paper wasps’ nests fluoresce so brilliantly that the glow is visible from up to 20 meters away.
