Health & Medicine
In ‘The Perfect Predator,’ viruses vanquish a deadly superbug
In ‘The Perfect Predator,’ an epidemiologist recounts the battle to save her husband from an antibiotic-resistant infection.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
Climate change made the Arctic greener. Now parts of it are turning brown.
Arctic browning could have far-reaching consequences for people and wildlife, affecting habitat and atmospheric carbon uptake as well as increasing wildfire risk.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Health & Medicine
U.S. fentanyl deaths are rising fastest among African-Americans
New statistics on fentanyl-related overdoses show troubling increases in deaths among African-Americans, Hispanics and men.
Notebook
Life
50 years ago, scientists were unlocking the secrets of bacteria-infecting viruses
In 1969, a bacteria-infecting virus held promise for unlocking the secrets of viral replication. Fifty years later, the virus is a versatile tool for scientists.
Features
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Here are 5 RNAs that are stepping out of DNA’s shadow
RNAs do a lot more than act as middlemen for protein building. Here are a few of the ways they affect your health and disease.
More Stories from the April 13, 2019 issue
- Archaeology
‘Cities’ reveals common ground between ancient and modern urban life
In the book ‘Cities,’ archaeologist Monica Smith sees the positives in past and present metropolises.
- Artificial Intelligence
Why a data scientist warns against always trusting AI’s scientific discoveries
Artificial intelligence that helps make scientific discoveries needs to get better at admitting its uncertainty, Genevera Allen says.
- Life
This spider slingshots itself at extreme speeds to catch prey
By winding up its web like a slingshot, the slingshot spider achieves an acceleration rate far faster than a cheetah’s.
- Life
Human encroachment threatens chimpanzee culture
Human activity is affecting chimps’ behavioral repertoire, a new study suggests. Creating chimp cultural heritage sites might save unique behaviors.
- Earth
The ‘roof of the world’ was raised more recently than once thought
New studies suggest that the Tibetan Plateau may have risen to its dizzying heights after 25 million years ago.
- Physics
Scientists have chilled tiny electronics to a record low temperature
In a first, electronic chip temperatures dip below a thousandth of a degree kelvin.
- Animals
The first male bees spotted babysitting are mostly stepdads
Some male bees guard young that are likely not their own while mom looks for pollen, a study finds.
- Astronomy
One of the strongest known solar storms blasted Earth in 660 B.C.
Ice cores and tree rings reveal that Earth was blasted with a powerful solar storm 2,610 years ago.
- Genetics
Geneticists push for a 5-year global ban on gene-edited babies
Prominent scientists are using the word “moratorium” to make it clear that experiments to create babies with altered genes are wrong, for now.
- Physics
Ultraprecise atomic clocks put Einstein’s special relativity to the test
Physics obeys the same rules no matter what direction you’re facing, a new experiment confirms.
- Health & Medicine
Flickers and buzzes sweep mouse brains of Alzheimer’s plaques
Precisely timed clicking noises can counter signs of Alzheimer’s in the brains of mice and improve memory.
- Tech
An origami design helps this robot lift delicate and heavy cargo
Fragile items, such as soft fruits, as well as heavier goods are in safe hands with a new robotic gripper.
- Humans
The rise of farming altered our bite and changed how people talk
Eating soft, processed foods refashioned adults' jaws, which added “f” and “v” sounds to speech and changed languages worldwide, a study finds.
- Animals
Meet India’s starry dwarf frog — a species with no close relatives
The newly identified starry dwarf frog represents a new species, genus and potentially even a new family.
- Planetary Science
Ultima Thule may be a frankenworld
The first geologic map of Ultima Thule shows it might be made of many smaller rocks that clumped together under the force of their own gravity.
- Planetary Science
Surprising astronomers, Bennu spits plumes of dust into space
Bennu spews dust from its rocky surface, which may be a new kind of asteroid activity.
- Paleontology
In a first, a fossilized egg is found preserved inside an ancient bird
Scientists have found the first known fossil of a bird that died with an unlaid egg inside its body. The egg has been crushed by pressure over time.
- Health & Medicine
A new ketamine-based antidepressant raises hope — and questions
Little is known about the long-term effects on people of a newly approved antidepressant based on the anesthetic ketamine.
- Neuroscience
People can sense Earth’s magnetic field, brain waves suggest
An analysis of brain waves offers new evidence that people subconsciously process information about the planet’s magnetism.
- Planetary Science
Ryugu is probably a chip off one of these two other asteroids
Japan’s Hayabusa2 team has narrowed down the asteroid Ryugu’s origins based on its color.
