Cosmology
‘Origins’ offers science-based account of creation
In Origins, a science writer compiles an ambitious yet concise history of the universe and life on Earth.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Animals
Capturing the wonders of hummingbird flight
Recent computer simulations reveal how hummingbirds manipulate the air around them to aid in flight.
Notebook
Climate
Report card shows which states are best prepared for climate change
A preparedness report card shows that some states aren’t ready for the extreme heat, droughts, wildfires and flooding that may come with climate change.
Features
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His stress is not like her stress
When the pressure doesn’t let up, men and women react differently. The root of the difference may be messaging within the brain.
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Mom’s weight during pregnancy shapes baby’s health
Obesity at conception or during pregnancy is a big problem that's getting bigger: New evidence says a child's mental health could be at stake.
More Stories from the January 23, 2016 issue
- Archaeology
6,000-year-old skeletons in French pit came from victims of violence
Human bones in a French pit recall lethal conflicts and limb lopping 6,000 years ago.
- Chemistry
Elusive chemical reaction transition state captured
A new method provides a detailed look at the elusive transition state.
- Life
To push through goo, use itty, bitty propellers
Newly designed micropropellers mimic bacteria to move through viscous surroundings.
- Health & Medicine
To treat the heart, start with the gut
Preventing gut bacteria from making certain chemical compounds reduced artery clogging in mice, researchers report.
- Physics
General relativity caught in action around black hole
X-rays enable scientists to spot a black hole twisting the surrounding fabric of spacetime, just as Einstein’s theory predicts.
- Climate
Ice rafts traveling farther and faster across the Arctic Ocean
Climate change may be causing Arctic sea ice to travel farther and faster than it did 15 years ago, taking pollutants and other material along for the ride.
- Physics
Pulsar pair ripples spacetime
A pair of pulsars gives scientists the best evidence so far for gravitational waves, which have yet to be detected directly.
- Earth
Solid inner, inner core may be relic of Earth’s earliest days
Earth’s innermost inner core may have formed billions of years earlier than previously thought, shortly after the planet’s accretion.
- Agriculture
Number of wild bees drops where they’re needed most
Wild bee abundance in the United States is lowest in agricultural regions, according to a new model.
- Astronomy
Exoplanets need right stuff to be habitable
The elemental makeup of a star can reveal whether planets in its solar system could support sustained plate tectonics, a requirement for Earth-like life, researchers propose.
- Health & Medicine
Gene behavior distinguishes viral from bacterial infections
Researchers have identified signatures of viral infection, a distinction that may help doctors tell whether bacteria or a virus is causing trouble.
- Astronomy
New recipe found for making supermassive black hole
The universe’s first supermassive black holes may have formed directly from gas in colliding galaxies, new simulations suggest.
- Astronomy
‘Bones’ in Milky Way could help map galactic structure
Six newly discovered tendrils of interstellar gas might be “bones” of the Milky Way that could help researchers understand the scaffolding of our galaxy.
- Climate
Arctic passageways let species mingle
People aren’t the only animals likely to use passages that open up as the Arctic melts.
- Physics
Physics’ metamorphosis explored in slim new book
From ancient Greek philosophy to quantum mechanics, a new book charts the evolution of physics.
- Planetary Science
Equipment failure delays Mars mission
A leaky instrument will push back launch of the Mars InSight lander by at least two years.
- Tech
SpaceX rocket sticks its landing
A Falcon 9 rocket section lands after launching a set of satellites during a successful test of SpaceX’s reusable rocket parts.
- Earth
Succession of satellites keep eye on Earth
50 years after plans were laid for the first Earth-observing spacecraft, the youngest Landsat satellites are still flying and imaging the planet’s surface.
- Animals
The fine art of hunting microsnails
Flotation, tact and limestone all prove vital to the quest for microsnails.
- Anthropology
Iceman has the world’s oldest tattoos
A more than 5,000-year-old European mummy gets his tattoos confirmed as world’s oldest.
- Paleontology
Fossils provide link in dino crest evolution
Fossils from a newly identified duck-billed dinosaur in Montana could explain how their descendants developed flamboyant nose crests.
- Science & Society
Human evolution, biomimicry and more go on display
A new human evolution gallery and a lecture series on Europa are among science events to explore in February 2016.
