Science & Society
Historian puts new spin on scientific revolution
The Invention of Science offers readers an unconventional perspective on the origins of modern science.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Oceans
Swirls of plankton decorate the Arabian Sea
The dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans is taking over in the Arabian Sea, posing a potential threat to its ecosystem.
Notebook
Planetary Science
120 seconds in Pluto’s shadow
A 747 outfitted with a telescope worked with New Horizons to reveal details about Pluto’s atmosphere.
Features
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Ultrasmall engines bend second law of thermodynamics
Car engines and batteries run because of the second law of thermodynamics, which appears to work, with just a little bending, for ultrasmall engines in the quantum realm as well.
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Cells from fat mend bone, cartilage, muscle and even the heart
Stem cells and other components of fat can be coerced to grow into bone, cartilage, muscle or to repair the heart.
More Stories from the March 19, 2016 issue
- Health & Medicine
Lead’s damage can last a lifetime, or longer
Scientists have known for decades that lead is toxic to the brain, but the mark lead exposure leaves on children may actually stretch into adulthood, and perhaps even future generations.
- Astronomy
Black hole heavyweights triggered gravity wave event
Those gravity waves came from two black holes more massive than any known outside a galactic core and formed in an environment different than the Milky Way.
- Humans
Human DNA found in a Neandertal woman
Interbreeding between humans and Neandertals happened earlier than thought, leaving traces in the Neandertal genome.
- Materials Science
New carbon cluster has high storage capacity
A new carbon structure could store gases or liquids in honeycomb-shaped cells.
- Archaeology
Easter Island people used sharpened stones as tools, not weapons
Sharp-edged stone tools enabled daily survival, not warfare, on Easter Island.
- Agriculture
FDA to test foods for controversial herbicide
Amid controversy and conflicting studies, the FDA will test food for glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the world.
- Health & Medicine
Vaginal ring somewhat effective at preventing HIV infection
Studies of vaginal ring for HIV protection show promise, challenges.
- Oceans
Gulf oil spill could hasten corrosion of shipwrecks
Oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster could hasten the corrosion of historical shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico, new studies of marine microbes suggest.
- Oceans
Corals need to take their vitamin C
Newly settled corals use vitamin C to help build their stony skeletons, researchers propose.
- Genetics
‘Selfish’ DNA flouts rules of inheritance
R2d2 is selfish DNA that could skew scientists’ views of adaptation and evolution.
- Particle Physics
Reactor data hint at existence of fourth neutrino
A nuclear reactor experiment in China is providing new hints that a fourth type of neutrino, one more than the standard model of physics allows, may exist.
- Oceans
Magnetism from underwater power cables doesn’t deter sea life
High-voltage power cables that ferry electricity across the seafloor do not negatively impact local fish and crabs, new studies show.
- Paleontology
Fossil reveals an ancient arthropod’s nervous system
A roughly 520-million-year-old fossil preserved an ancient arthropod’s ventral nerve cord and peripheral nerves.
- Paleontology
Free virtual fossils for everyone
MorphoSource.org archives 3-D images of bones from over 200 genera of both living and extinct animals.
- Health & Medicine
Mind’s healing powers put to the test in new book
Cure: A Journey Into the Science of Mind Over Body investigates the brain’s role in keeping people healthy.
- Animals
New chameleon has strange snout, odd distribution
A new species of chameleon from Tanzania echoes the unusual range of the kipunji monkey.
- Animals
Eat your stinkbugs
Prepared as a snack by some groups in southern Africa, the stinkbug Encosternum delegorguei is a good source of protein and antioxidants.
- Neuroscience
Scientists still haven’t solved mystery of memory
50 years have refined a basic understanding of the brain, but scientists are still exploring how memories form, change and persist.
- Astronomy
Black hole smashup generated yottawatts of power
For a split second, LIGO’s black hole collision generated 36 septillion yottawatts of power, or 50 times the power from all the stars in the universe.
