Humans
What I actually learned about my family after trying 5 DNA ancestry tests
Ancestry results vary widely depending on which company you use.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
In her short life, mathematician Emmy Noether changed the face of physics
A century after she published a groundbreaking mathematical theory, Emmy Noether gets her due.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Planetary Science
Satellite smashups could have given birth to Saturn’s odd moons
Nearly head-on collisions between icy moonlets might be responsible for the peculiar shapes of some of Saturn’s moons, computer simulations suggest.
Notebook
Health & Medicine
The CDC advises: Don’t swallow the water in a hotel swimming pool
In a 15-year period, hotel swimming pools and water parks had the highest number of swimming-related disease outbreaks in the United States.
Features
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DNA testing can bring families together, but gives mixed answers on ethnicity
DNA testing has become a new way for millions of Americans to expand their family trees and learn something about themselves, but results vary widely.
More Stories from the June 23, 2018 issue
- Psychology
Gun owner or not, Americans agree on many ways to limit gun violence
A new survey suggests that gun owners support many potential gun-control policies — now research on their efficacy needs to catch up.
- Astronomy
Maverick asteroid might be an immigrant from outside the solar system
A space rock’s backward orbit could be a hint of unusual origins.
- Animals
A caterpillar outwits corn defenses by gorging on fattening ‘junk’ food
The crop plants defend themselves with zombie-maker wasps, but one pest has a desperate work-around.
- Genetics
Genetic sleuthing again IDs a murder suspect in a cold case
The arrest of a second murder suspect with the help of genetic genealogy raises worries that suspicionless searches may be next.
- Tech
Fleets of self-driving taxis could be choreographed to cut traffic
Hive-minded self-driving cars could curb traffic congestion and vehicle pollution.
- Climate
As CO2 increases, rice loses B vitamins and other nutrients
Field experiments add vitamins to list of nutrients at risk from a changing atmosphere.
- Astronomy
Plasma rain in the sun’s atmosphere falls in surprising places
Scientists found rain in the sun’s corona where they didn’t expect it, which could help solve the mystery of why the corona is so hot.
- Animals
Pregnant bonobos get a little delivery help from their friends
As in humans, female bonobos become helpers for mothers giving birth, data from captive apes suggest.
- Paleontology
How birds may have escaped the dino-killing asteroid impact
A tree-loving lifestyle became a risk for ancient birds in a world-changing catastrophe.
- Particle Physics
Dark matter particles elude scientists in the biggest search of its kind
The XENON1T experiment saw no signs of hypothetical dark matter particles called WIMPs.
- Health & Medicine
Keeping people within U.S. blood pressure guidelines saves lives
Big reductions in heart attacks, strokes and deaths may be possible under 2017 blood pressure guidelines.
- Climate
The first Americans could have taken a coastal route into the New World
Alaskan glaciers retreated in time for ancient coastal entries of the first Americans.
- Health & Medicine
At-home telomere testing is not a reliable marker of aging, researcher says
Telomere testing for consumers offers a poor measure of “biological age,” says Johns Hopkins oncologist Mary Armanios.
- Health & Medicine
Experts advise: Start colorectal screening at 45, not 50
The American Cancer Society recommends that colorectal screening begin at the age of 45 for average-risk individuals.
- Planetary Science
Never-before-seen dunes on Pluto spotted in New Horizons images
Images from the New Horizons spacecraft reveal dunes on Pluto — but the sand-sized grains must have had an unusual boost to get moving.
- Particle Physics
Mysterious neutrino surplus hints at the existence of new particles
Neutrinos show up in greater numbers than expected in an experiment, possibly bolstering the idea of a fourth type of the particle.
- Astronomy
In 1968, scientists thought they were close to detecting gravity waves
Despite an unverified discovery in 1968, spacetime ripples remained elusive for nearly 50 years.
