Climate
‘Storm Surge’ revisits Sandy, looks to future hurricanes
Superstorm Sandy deluged New York City and could be a harbinger of future coastal flooding.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Genetics
The art of DNA folding
Cells must compress genetic material into a nucleus that measures only about 5 micrometers across. To accomplish the feat, cells make loops in the DNA.
Notebook
Earth
Earth’s most abundant mineral finally has a name
Bridgmanite, the planet’s most common mineral, christened after traces found in 1879 meteorite.
Features
-
Dam demolition lets the Elwha River run free
Removing a dam involves more than impressive explosions. Releasing a river like Washington state's Elwha transforms the landscape and restores important pathways for native fish.
-
Cities are brimming with wildlife worth studying
Urban ecologists are getting a handle on the varieties of wildlife — including fungi, ants, bats and coyotes — that share sidewalks, parks and alleyways with a city’s human residents.
More Stories from the January 10, 2015 issue
- Environment
Black carbon fouls New York subway stations
Black carbon, a respiratory irritant, fouls air in New York subway stations.
- Life
Electric eels remote-control nervous systems of prey
Electric eels’ high-voltage zaps turn a prey fish against itself, making it freeze in place or betray a hiding place.
- Climate
California drought worst in at least 1,200 years
The current California drought is the most severe in 1,200 years, according to historical information gleaned from tree rings.
- Life
Softer surroundings stifle some chemotherapy drugs
Some anticancer drugs such as Gleevec are less effective when attacking cancer cells grown in soft surroundings.
- Chemistry
Early asteroid impacts may have aided life’s origin
RNA ingredients found in laser-induced simulation of explosions.
- Health & Medicine
Cells in groups may promote cancer’s spread
Cellular gangs, not individuals, form distant tumors from breast malignancies, a new study finds.
- Neuroscience
Molecule impairs brain cells that fail in Alzheimer’s
In mice, blocking a molecule on immune cells allowed them to mop up the type of protein buildup seen in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.
- Planetary Science
Rosetta casts doubt on comets as Earth’s water providers
Water in comet 67P’s thin, hazy atmosphere doesn’t chemically match Earth’s oceans, suggesting that asteroids, not comets, brought water to the planet.
- Genetics
New type of stem cells, fuzzy and flexible
A new way to make stem cells produces fuzzy cells that appear as flexible as other types of stem cells, but are easier to grow in the lab and avoid ethical issues.
- Life
Imprisoning parasites can deter malaria’s spread
Disabling a protein traps malaria-causing parasites within red blood cells and prevents the organisms from reproducing.
- Life
New tree of life confirms strange history of birds
A genetic analysis supports some odd groupings in the bird tree of life, showing a lot of convergent evolution in avian history.
- Earth
Mega volcanism indicted in dinosaur demise
Precision dating strengthens idea that climate-altering Deccan volcanism contributed to dinosaur extinction.
- Math
Math to match pedestrian behavior is all about timing
The best-ever simulation of pedestrians moving through a crowd relies on a new formula that encapsulates people’s ability to anticipate collisions.
- Planetary Science
Solar wind probably leaches Mars’ lower atmosphere
Initial results from NASA's MAVEN probe may help explain how Mars has lost its atmosphere: The solar wind penetrates the Red Planet’s atmosphere and fuels escaping gas.
- Genetics
Domestication did horses no genetic favors
Horses bear the cost of domestication in the form of harmful genetic variants, a study of equine DNA finds.
- Planetary Science
Rover finds methane in Mars air, organics in rocks
NASA’s Curiosity rover has found organic molecules on Mars, but scientists can’t say whether they are a sign of life on the Red Planet.
- Astronomy
Gamma-ray bursts may repeatedly wipe out life
Brief bursts of high-energy radiation may sterilize most planets across the universe, hampering the chances for widespread intelligent life.
- Oceans
Alcatraz escapees could have made it safely to shore
Detailed simulations of the San Francisco Bay suggest that three prisoners who escaped from the prison on Alcatraz Island in 1962 could have made it safely to shore.
- Planetary Science
Rosetta may have spotted comet’s primordial ingredients
Photos taken by the Rosetta spacecraft may show pristine material that formed the solar system’s comets, asteroids and planets roughly 4.6 billion years ago.
- Earth
South Napa earthquake revived bone-dry streams
The South Napa earthquake freed groundwater trapped in nearby hills, revitalizing previously dry streams.
- Animals
Lucky break documents warbler tornado warning
Warblers fitted with data collecting devices for other reasons reveal early and extreme measures when dodging April’s tornado outbreak.
- Astronomy
Revived Kepler telescope finds first exoplanet
NASA’s Kepler space telescope finds its first planet — a possible super-Earth — since getting a second chance at life.
- Life
Images reveal secrets of zinc sparks
These sparks are created when billions of zinc atoms shoot from thousands of small pouches nestled just beneath the surface of a mouse egg cell.
- Animals
Why ground squirrels go ninja over nothing
Ground squirrels twist and dodge fast enough to have a decent chance of escaping rattlesnake attacks.
- Neuroscience
Cold War collaboration probed possible viral cause of ALS
A mid-1960s collaboration between American and Soviet researchers explored a possible viral cause of ALS.
- Health & Medicine
‘AIDS’ gives inside view of science, politics of epidemic
In ‘AIDS Between Science and Politics,’ pioneering HIV expert Peter Piot discusses the factors and events that shaped the epidemic.
- Psychology
‘Survival of the Nicest’ demonstrates altruism all around
Selfishness is not the rule in human society, new book argues.
