Science & Society
‘Race Unmasked’ explores science’s racial past, present
Eugenics is far behind us, but a health historian sees few reasons to believe science is postracial.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
Studying a volcano in a war zone
New isotope analyses offer bad news for the people of Goma, a burgeoning city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Mount Nyiragongo may be more dangerous than expected.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Physics
Assaulting ink drops for science
A pulse of laser light obliterates a free-falling ink drop in an image from the American Physical Society’s 2014 Gallery of Fluid Motion competition. The work may help engineers build the next generation of computer chips.
Notebook
Tech
New microscope gives clear view inside cells
By splitting beams of light, a new microscopy technique can capture activity inside a cell.
Features
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Designing robots to help in a disaster
Ideally, robots could take over for human crews in disaster zones. But seemingly simple tasks, such as walking, communicating and staying powered up, still pose big challenges.
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Children can suffer emotional wounds in a disaster
Natural disasters and terrorist attacks have taught researchers that a subset of children may face long-term problems. Parent reactions and how quickly life returns to normal can make a difference.
More Stories from the December 13, 2014 issue
- Life
Gut microbes less diverse in humans than in apes
An analysis of gut bacteria shows that humans have evolved to possess less diversity in microbe populations.
- Paleontology
Ancient sea creature took to land and sea
A primitive relative of the ichthyosaur had strong bones and big flippers.
- Health & Medicine
Snakebite test correctly IDs attackers in Nepal
A new test that swabs for traces of snake DNA around bite marks can identify the guilty serpent and may improve treatments.
- Astronomy
Nearly starless galaxies found in nearby cluster
Astronomers have found 47 galaxies with relatively few stars, something not predicted by any galaxy formation theories.
- Materials Science
‘Impermeable’ graphene yields to protons
Graphene sheets, impermeable to all atoms and molecules, can be penetrated by protons, new study shows.
- Life
Norovirus grown in lab, with help from bacteria
Norovirus, famous for sickening cruise ship passengers, has finally been grown in human cells in a lab, offering scientists a chance to test new therapies.
- Life
Epic worldwide effort explores all of insect history
A whopper of a genetic analysis fits all living orders of insects into one genealogical evolutionary tree.
- Neuroscience
Brain regions linking odors to words pinpointed
Scientists have pinpointed two brain regions involved in linking odors to their names, with implications for why smells are hard to identify.
- Genetics
Human thoughts control mouse genes
Human brain waves trigger light that activates protein production in rodents.
- Genetics
Rare mutations may protect against heart disease
Rare mutations in a key gene seem to lower bad cholesterol and provide protection against heart disease.
- Climate
Lightning strikes will surge with climate change
Climate warming could boost lightning strikes in the United States by roughly 50 percent over the next century.
- Quantum Physics
Milestone algorithm runs on quantum computer
An algorithm proposed two decades ago that demonstrated the benefit of using quantum mechanics to solve certain problems has finally been run on a quantum computer.
- Environment
Spiders enlisted as pollution sensors for rivers
Hunting arachnids provide a better picture of chemical threats to food web.
- Environment
Colorado deluge produced flood of drug-resistance genes
Flooding in Colorado’s South Platte River Basin washed antibiotics and drug-resistance genes into pristine waterways.
- Planetary Science
Two travelers from far beyond Neptune return home
Two bodies approaching from the edge of the solar system may have been tossed out there by Jupiter over 4 billion years ago.
- Planetary Science
Unseen planets sweep up dust around young star
A large gap in the dusty disk around a young star reveals what our solar system might have looked like 4.6 billion years ago.
- Neuroscience
‘Bath salts’ reduce communication in rat brains
The recreational drugs known as bath salts cause a loss of communication between areas in the rat brain.
- Environment
DDT lingers in Michigan town
Decades after a plant manufacturing DDT shut down in Michigan, the harmful insecticide is still found in neighboring birds and eggs.
- Neuroscience
Breathing returns to paralyzed rats
Scar tissue–busting enzyme plus rehabilitation therapy improves respiration long after rats’ initial spinal cord injuries.
- Planetary Science
Comet lander’s exploration cut short
The comet lander Philae made history with its touchdown on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, but a series of small hiccups prevented the robot from recharging its batteries, giving it only about 57 hours to explore the alien world.
- Earth
Exhibit lays out principles for disaster-resistant structures
The National Building Museum’s ‘Designing for Disaster’ exhibit showcases the science and engineering of making disaster-resistant infrastructure.
- Archaeology
Magnetism paved way for excavation without digging
In the 1960s, archaeologists used a new technique to locate and map a submerged Greek city without digging.
- Health & Medicine
A look back at 2013’s disasters
The Philippines, India and China each lost more than 1,000 lives in 2013 in mass calamities.
