Cosmology
From Dust to Life
In about 300 pages, this book sums up the history of all that matters — or at least everything made of matter — from the Big Bang to life on Earth.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Tech
The gene sequencing future is here
The biggest expense in sequencing a human genome now is the cost of storing it.
Notebook
Planetary Science
Mars ‘air’ found thinner
Readers get an update on the Red Planet's atmosphere and how new probes land there with parachutes.
Features
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Life’s early traces
Tiny tufts, rolls and crinkles in 3.5-billion-year-old rocks add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that cellular life got a relatively quick start on Earth.
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Grape expectations
Global warming has delivered long, warm growing seasons and blockbuster vintages to the world’s great wine regions. But by mid-century, excessive heat will push premium wine-making into new territory.
More Stories from the February 8, 2014 issue
- Neuroscience
Bad memories fade with a short jolt
Research illustrates the vulnerability of the brain’s information storage.
- Animals
Smoker’s breath saves caterpillars’ lives
Larvae of the tobacco hornworm caterpillar exhale nicotine, driving away predatory spiders.
- Climate
Mangroves move up Florida’s coast
Satellite images reveal that the tropical trees are expanding north up Florida’s Atlantic coast, taking advantage of rising winter temperatures.
- Neuroscience
Hormone hampers effects of marijuana
Study of pot-blocking brain chemical in rodents could lead to new treatments for cannabis addiction.
- Life
Deadly influenza could strike aboriginal groups hardest
Native Alaskans and Australians tend to lack potent flu-fighting immune cells.
- Astronomy
Supernova is a dust factory
Grains of matter spewed by stellar explosion offer clues to early star formation.
- Chemistry
Battery blueprint promises green energy storage
A device that relies on organic molecules could cheaply bank power from renewable sources.
- Computing
Materials’ light tricks may soon extend to doing math
A simulation paves the way toward metamaterials that can perform ultrafast complex mathematical operations using light waves.
- Life
Marine microbes shed packets of DNA, nutrients
The world’s most abundant marine microorganism, the photosynthetic bacteria Prochlorococcus, spits out nutrient-rich vesicles into ocean waters, perhaps for genetic exchange or as a survival mechanism.
- Astronomy
Enormous cosmic lens magnifies supernova
Galaxy warps light of distant exploding star, greatly increasing its brightness.
- Astronomy
Galaxies’ missing mass may hide in gas clouds
Vast reservoirs of previously undetected gas could account for much of galaxies’ matter, solving a cosmic mystery.
- Health & Medicine
Green tea may sabotage blood pressure medication
Antioxidants in drink may keep intestinal cells from taking up drug.
- Health & Medicine
‘Good bacterium’ prevents colic symptoms in newborns
Crying time was nearly halved in babies receiving the beneficial microbe.
- Life
V-flying birds pick efficient flapping pattern
Ibises time their flaps to catch a boost from a neighbor’s wing.
- Science & Society
Forty finalists selected in 2014 Intel Science Talent Search
The 40 young scientists will visit Washington, D.C., March 6–12 to tour the White House and other national landmarks, present their research to judges and the public in a poster session at the headquarters of the National Geographic Society and attend a black-tie awards gala at the National Building Museum.
- Earth
Eye in the sky
With its free Images of Change iPad app and online gallery, NASA makes the aerial perspective available to all, with results both stunning and disturbing.
- Animals
Synchronous birth
For young banded mongoose moms, there’s only one choice for when to give birth — the same day as older, dominant mothers. In communities of these cat-sized animals, all females give birth together, no matter when they became pregnant.
- Health & Medicine
Smoking equality
A study of tobacco smoking patterns reports that more men than women smoke in every country except Sweden.
- Animals
Disco clams put on a streak show
Scuba divers call Ctenoides ales the disco or electric clam because the restless, curling lips of its mantle flash bright streaks.
