Animals
‘Cull of the Wild’ questions sacrificing wildlife in the name of conservation
In his new book, ecologist Hugh Warwick seeks middle ground in the waging battle that is wildlife management.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
The second law of thermodynamics underlies nearly everything. But is it inviolable?
Two centuries on, scientists are still seeking a proof of the Second Law and why heat always flows from hot to cold.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Neuroscience
Biological puzzles abound in an up-close look at a human brain
Mirror-image nerve cells, tight bonds between neuron pairs and surprising axon swirls abound in a bit of gray matter smaller than a grain of rice.
Notebook
Animals
Want to see butterflies in your backyard? Try doing less yardwork
Growing out patches of grass can lure adult butterflies and moths with nectar and offer lawn mower–free havens for toddler caterpillars.
Features
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Rain Bosworth studies how deaf children experience the world
Deaf experimental psychologist Rain Bosworth has found that babies are primed to learn sign language just like spoken language.
More Stories from the June 15, 2024 issue
- Animals
This orangutan used a medicinal plant on his face wound
Rakus the orangutan appeared to be treating a cut to his face with a plant that’s also used in traditional human medicine.
- Health & Medicine
Burning the stomach lining reduces the ‘hunger hormone’ and cuts weight
An experimental weight loss procedure blasts the stomach lining with heat to curb hunger and cut pounds.
- Cosmology
The universe may have a complex geometry — like a doughnut
Physicists haven’t yet ruled out the possibility that the universe has a complicated topology in which space loops back around on itself.
- Animals
Getting wild mosquitoes back to the lab alive takes a custom backpack
The new low-tech transportation method could help scientists in Africa assess if malaria-carrying mosquitoes are resistant to a common insecticide.
- Paleontology
How did an ancient shark parasite end up fossilized in tree resin?
A worm preserved in 99-million-year-old amber resembles modern flatworms in shark intestines. The rare finding has scientists stumped.
- Quantum Physics
Two real-world tests of quantum memories bring a quantum internet closer to reality
Scientists successfully entangled quantum memories linked by telecommunications fibers across two different urban environments.
- Archaeology
One of the world’s earliest farming villages housed surprisingly few people
Hundreds, not thousands, occupied the Turkish site of Çatalhöyük nearly 9,000 years ago, undermining arguments for a Neolithic social revolution.
- Health & Medicine
Extreme heat will put millions more older adults at risk in the future
By 2050, as many as an additional 246 million adults 69 and older could experience temperature extremes that exceed 37.5° Celsius.
- Health & Medicine
Human body lice could harbor the plague and spread it through biting
Rats and fleas previously got all the blame, but humans’ own parasites could be involved.
- Animals
This snake goes to extremes to play dead — and it appears to pay off
When dice snakes fake their death to avoid predators, those that use a combination of blood, poop and musk spend less time pretending to be dead.
- Animals
Tiger beetles may weaponize ultrasound against bats
In response to recordings of echolocating bats, tiger beetles emit noises that mimic toxic moths that bats avoid.
- Particle Physics
The neutrino’s quantum fuzziness is beginning to come into focus
An experiment studying the neutrino’s “wave packet” sets a limit on the uncertainty of the subatomic particle’s position.
- Planetary Science
Our picture of habitability on Europa, a top contender for hosting life, is changing
The moon of Jupiter is considered one of the most promising places to look for life, but its subsurface ocean may be less habitable than once thought.
- Space
NASA’s budget woes put ambitious space research at risk
Mars Sample Return and missions to study other planets and celestial bodies, including lunar efforts, face big cuts and delays.
- Science & Society
‘After 1177 B.C.’ describes how societies fared when the Bronze Age ended
Archaeologist Eric H. Cline’s new book reconstructs ancient examples of societal resilience and fragility that have modern-day relevance.
- Earth
50 years ago, the sun’s influence on Earth’s lightning was revealed
The solar wind and sunspots seem to give lightning a boost. But exactly how solar activity stimulates strikes is an enduring mystery.
