DEEP DIVE Researchers have found a plethora of shallow water coral species in the deep ocean off Australia’s northeastern coast. Deep ocean reefs might protect corals from severe bleaching and storms.
Paul Muir
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In the Dec. 8 SN: Parkinson’s gut connections, beaver ecosystem engineering, Greenland’s hidden impact crater, the kilogram redefined, figurative cave art in Borneo, Dione’s stripes and more.
DRY LAND Human-caused climate change was responsible for extremely warm ocean temperatures off the Horn of Africa from March through June 2017. That marine heat wave, researchers say, dramatically increased the likelihood of drought on land, such as the devastating one that led to food shortages in Somalia (shown).
AMISOM Public Information/Flickr
LAVA ON THE MOVE Lava gushed from fissures in Kilauea’s lower east rift zone, as seen in this image from June, at an estimated rate of more than 100 cubic meters per second.
CARBON CAP Globally, people emitted more carbon dioxide from fossil fuels in 2018 than ever before.
egdigital/iStock.com
Science News
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Big data reveals hints of how, when and where mental disorders start
The first wave of data from the PsychENCODE project holds new clues to how and when psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia emerge.
Growth Curve
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Corn domestication took some unexpected twists and turns
A DNA study challenges the idea people fully tamed maize in Mexico before the plant spread.
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Here’s a rare way that an Alzheimer’s protein can spread
Amyloid-beta found in vials of growth hormone can move from brain to brain, a mouse study shows.
Feature
A gut-brain link for Parkinson’s gets a closer look
Early evidence suggests that Parkinson’s may be a gut disease that affects the brain.
50 Years Ago
50 years ago, armadillos hinted that DNA wasn’t destiny
Nine-banded armadillos have identical quadruplets. But the youngsters aren’t identical enough, and scientists 50 years ago could not figure out why.
Feature
Beavers are engineering a new Alaskan tundra
Climate change has enabled the recent expansion of beavers into northwestern Alaska, a trend that could have major ecological consequences for the region in the coming decades.
News in Brief
The Parker Solar Probe takes its first up-close look at the sun
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe survived its first encounter with the sun and is sending data back to Earth.
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Hybrid rice engineered with CRISPR can clone its seeds
New research has created self-cloning hybrid rice, raising hopes of higher food production.
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Babies born in opioid withdrawal have unusually small heads
Infants born dependent on opioids had heads that were smaller than babies whose moms didn’t use the drugs during pregnancy.
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‘Little Foot’ skeleton analysis reignites debate over the hominid’s species
Long-awaited analyses of the Little Foot skeleton have researchers disagreeing over resurrecting a defunct species name.
Rethink
Nearly 200 Great Barrier Reef coral species also live in the deep sea
There are more coral species lurking in the deep ocean that previously thought. That could be good news for their shallow water counterparts.
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Here’s what was surprising about Kilauea’s 3-month-long eruption
Researchers revealed new insight into the Hawaiian volcano’s most recent eruption.
News in Brief
Biologists are one step closer to creating snake venom in the lab
Milking snakes for venom may soon no longer be needed to make antidotes for bites.
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A new way to turn saltwater fresh can kill germs and avoid gunk buildup
A new device that harnesses sunlight to produce pure vapor from seawater could last longer and produce cleaner water than other technology.
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The list of extreme weather caused by human-driven climate change grows
The tally of extreme weather events linked to climate change continues to grow, with new studies outlining links to more than a dozen events in 2017.
News in Brief
Getting goose bumps could boost hair growth
The same nerves and muscles that create goose bumps may make hair grow.
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NASA’s OSIRIS-REx finds signs of water on the asteroid Bennu
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft found signs of water and lots of boulders on the asteroid Bennu.
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Voyager 2 spacecraft enters interstellar space
Voyager 2 just became the second probe ever to enter interstellar space, and the first with a working plasma instrument.
News in Brief
A satellite screw-up reaffirms Einstein’s theory of gravity
Two spacecraft confirm that time passes more slowly closer to Earth’s surface.
Reviews & Previews
These are our favorite science books of 2018
Science News writers and editors pick which science books were this year’s must-reads.
News in Brief
Magnets make a new soft metamaterial stiffen up in a flash
Scientists can dial the stiffness of a bizarre new type of synthetic material up or down using magnets.
Reviews & Previews
Two new books explore the science and history of the 1918 flu pandemic
One-hundred years after the Spanish flu, ‘Pandemic 1918’ and ‘Influenza’ provide a new look at the global outbreak.
News in Brief
Global carbon dioxide emissions will hit a record high in 2018
Carbon dioxide emissions from China, the United States and India all rose this year, a new report finds.
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Volcanic eruptions that depleted ocean oxygen may have set off the Great Dying
Massive eruptions from volcanoes spewing greenhouse gases 252 million years ago may have triggered Earth’s biggest mass extinction.