In the July 6 SN: Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, stone tool dates face scrutiny, ocean plastic goes deep, records of Inca taxation, erosion spurred plate tectonics and more.
BEHIND GLASS Science News astronomy reporter Lisa Grossman visits the pristine sample lab at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in March. The display case holds rocks collected during Apollo 15 and 16. The 1.5-kilogram chunk of volcanic basalt in the center is 3.4 billion years old.
Felix Sanchez
LUNAR LEFTOVERS Astronauts, like those who touched down in the Apollo 15 lunar module (shown) in July 1971, left a lot on the moon’s surface, from scientific instruments to trash.
NASA
WHALE TALES The vocal repertoire of southern right whales includes quiet calls that may help mothers and calves stay in touch while hiding their location from predators, a study finds.
Nattrass/Getty Images Plus
LIFE IN 3-D Colored filters let a praying mantis watch a 3-D video of a moving disk while researchers studied the nerve cells that contribute to the insect’s depth perception.
Newcastle Univ., UK
