Science & Society
‘Enlightening Symbols’ shows how math’s language arose
From numerals to infinity, symbols have advanced mathematical thinking.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Tech
Robot swarm takes many shapes
One Kilobot is not very smart. But 1,000 can follow simple instructions to assemble into multiple shapes without human intervention.
Notebook
Animals
‘Octomom’ sets egg-brooding record
The deep ocean reveals a new record as an octopus mom broods the same clutch of eggs for almost 4.5 years.
Features
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Seeing past the jellyfish sting
Jellies don’t get nearly as much love as their cousins, the corals, but they deserve credit for providing homes to some creatures, dinner to others and more. They’re an integral part of the oceans.
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Carbon capture and storage finally approaching debut
Carbon capture and storage offers a way to rein in global carbon emissions. But financial and regulatory obstacles, as well as public fears, are delaying the technology’s long-awaited implementation.
More Stories from the September 6, 2014 issue
- Genetics
Gene activity change can produce cancer
Scientists have long thought that epigenetic changes, which alter gene activity, can cause cancer. Now they have demonstrated it in a mouse experiment.
- Tech
With two robotic fingers, humans get a helping hand
Mechanical fingers grasp like the real thing.
- Neuroscience
Hippocampus may help homing pigeons explore
When researchers remove pigeons’ hippocampi, birds fly straighter on early parts of journey home.
- Neuroscience
Study linking narcolepsy to autoimmunity retracted
Data linking disorder to immune cells couldn’t be replicated, scientists say.
- Astronomy
Tilted binary stars test theories of planet formation
Tilted disks in binary star systems may help astronomers explain variety of exoplanet orbits.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum Cheshire Cat experiment splits particles from their properties
When facing a fork in the road, neutrons appear to go in one direction and their spins in the other.
- Psychology
Goalkeepers deceive themselves when facing penalty kicks
Soccer’s goalies fall victim to a logical fallacy during the sport’s most high-pressure situation, seeing trends where none exists.
- Health & Medicine
Resistance to key malaria drug spreads
Parasites that are less susceptible to artemisinin now affect several Asian countries.
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- Health & Medicine
Mummies reveal hardened arteries
Mummy studies suggest heart disease is an ancient malady, not just the product of modern diets and sedentary lifestyles.
- Planetary Science
Saturn moon’s geysers draw water from subsurface sea
More than six years of Cassini data indicate that the water jets on the surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus connect to deep-ocean reservoirs via expanding cracks in surface ice.
- Life
Airborne transmission of Ebola unlikely, monkey study shows
No evidence found of macaque monkeys passing deadly virus to each other.
- Astronomy
Single black hole may be masquerading as a pair
New observations of a recently discovered binary black hole reveal that astronomers may have been seeing double.
- Planetary Science
Rosetta spacecraft confabs with a comet
After a 10-year chase, ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft has met up with comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
- Computing
Brain-inspired computer chip mimics 1 million neurons
By processing data in parallel, computer chips modeled after the human brain could perform certain tasks, such as pattern recognition, faster and more energy-efficiently than traditional computers.
- Oceans
World’s largest ocean dead zone may shrink as Earth warms
North Pacific dead zone may grow smaller, not expand, as climate change weakens Pacific Ocean trade winds.
- Life
Grizzly bears master healthy obesity
Tuned insulin signals explain how grizzly bears can fatten up for hibernation in the winter without developing diabetes.
- Health & Medicine
‘NOVA’ takes science’s side in vaccine debate
A TV documentary dissects concerns about vaccinations and spells out the science supporting their use.
- Astronomy
Distance to quasars debated
Some astronomers thought quasars were buzzing around our galaxy; turns out these starlike objects live on the other side of the universe.
- Life
New gut-dwelling virus is surprisingly common
It’s not clear yet whether the bacteriophage crAssphage, found in people’s intestines, has any health effects.
- Animals
Bumphead parrot fish declare their arrival with a crunch
Months of swimming with the coral-biter bumpheads exposes the animal’s extreme digestion and also a conservation dilemma.
