TOUGH STUFF An exotic substance thought to exist within a type of collapsed star called a neutron star (illustrated) may be stronger than any other known material.
Casey Reed/Penn State University, Wikimedia Commons
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Magazine
In the Sept. 15 SN: The plant microbiome revolution, Parker probe’s stellar tech, the first RNAi drug approved, video fakery, a puzzling lemur fossil, how elephants dodge cancer, supersmooth desalination, really old cheese and more.
SWARM STORM Mayflies have been swarming a high-traffic bridge in central Pennsylvania, causing blizzard-like conditions for commuters.
Marisa Macchia
NOT ONE OF A KIND Scientists thought Ahuna Mons (shown in the center of this image constructed from surface maps taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft) was the only icy volcano on dwarf planet Ceres. Now it seems it’s just the youngest.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
COUNTING ON IT The number of human genes depends on how scientists define a gene.
Svisio/iStockphoto
Science News
News in Brief
The TESS space telescope has spotted its first exoplanet
TESS’s first exoplanet is twice Earth’s size and may have lots of water.
For Daily Use
A sensor inspired by an African thumb piano could root out bogus medicines
An inexpensive, user-friendly device that’s based on an mbira could help identify counterfeit and contaminated medications.
Sponsor Message
Reviews & Previews
Smart plants can teach us a thing or two
‘The Revolutionary Genius of Plants’ challenges the brain-centered view of intelligence.
Feature
How plant microbes could feed the world and save endangered species
Scientists have only scratched the surface of the plant microbiome, but they already believe it might increase crop yield and save species from extinction.
News in Brief
Here’s how clumps of honeybees may survive blowing in the wind
Honeybees clumped on trees may adjust their positions to keep the cluster together when it’s jostled by wind, a new study suggests.
Science Visualized
The ghosts of nearly two dozen icy volcanoes haunt dwarf planet Ceres
The slumped remains of 21 ice volcanoes suggest that the dwarf planet Ceres has been volcanically active for billions of years.
News in Brief
Here’s how many U.S. kids are vaping marijuana
A new study suggests that nearly 1 in 11 middle and high school students in the United States has vaped marijuana, raising concerns about addiction.
Rethink
A recount of human genes ups the number to at least 46,831
A new estimate of the number of human genes adds in some RNA-producing genes.
The Science Life
Confused mayflies wreak havoc on a Pennsylvania bridge
Cleaning a river in central Pennsylvania brought back mayflies, which now pose a threat to motorists crossing a bridge.
News
Nuclear pasta in neutron stars may be the strongest material in the universe
Simulations suggest that the theoretical substance known as nuclear pasta is 10 billion times as strong as steel.
Reviews & Previews
‘Poached’ offers a deep, disturbing look into the illegal wildlife trade
In ‘Poached,’ a journalist reports from the front lines of the illegal wildlife trade and shows how conservationists are fighting back.
News
Here’s how climate change is fueling Hurricane Florence
Scientists take a stab at predicting climate change’s influence on Hurricane Florence.
News
A new map reveals the causes of forest loss worldwide
A new study shows where global forest loss is due to permanent deforestation versus short-term shifts in land use.
News in Brief
This flying robot could reveal secrets of the aerial world of insects
A new winged robot with the exceptional agility of a fruit fly could lend insight into animal flight.
News
Brain features may reveal if placebo pills could treat chronic pain
Researchers narrow in on how to identify people who find placebos effective for treating persistent pain.
News
Sea level rise doesn’t necessarily spell doom for coastal wetlands
Wetlands can survive and even thrive despite rising sea levels — if humans give them room to grow.
News in Brief
Butchered bird bones put humans in Madagascar 10,500 years ago
Humans reached the island near Africa 6,000 years earlier than thought, raising questions about how its megafauna went extinct.
News
This South African cave stone may bear the world’s oldest drawing
The Stone Age line design could have held special meaning for its makers, a new study finds.
News
A new antibiotic uses sneaky tactics to kill drug-resistant superbugs
Scientists have developed a molecule that kills off bacteria that are resistant to existing antibiotics.
News
Here’s how graphene could make future electronics superfast
Graphene-based electronics that operate at terahertz frequencies would be much speedier successors to today’s silicon-based devices.
News in Brief
Sound waves can make bubbles in levitated drops of liquid
A new technique reveals how to make bubbles from droplets suspended in the air.
News in Brief
How obesity may harm memory and learning
In obese mice, immune cells chomp nerve cell connections and harm brainpower.
News
A new hydrogen-rich compound may be a record-breaking superconductor
The record for the highest-temperature superconductor may be toast.
News
Wildfires make their own weather, and that matters for fire management
Mathematical equations describing interactions between wildfires and the air around them help explain their power and destruction.