SPEED TEST A neutrino blasted from a bright galaxy known as a blazar (illustrated) along with a flare of light reveals that neutrinos travel at roughly the speed of light.
ESA, NASA, Paolo Padovani/AVO project
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Magazine
In the July 21 SN: Portraits of a galaxy’s ecosystem, sleep and Alzheimer’s, poliovirus vs. glioblastoma, Parker Solar Probe previewed, mind-reading robots, a new ancient gibbon and more.
NEW MOON, I SAW YOU ORBIT ALONE Of 12 recently discovered Jovian moons (illustrated in bold orange, blue and green), one orbits in the opposite direction of its neighbors (arrows show orbit direction). Four moons discovered by Galileo are also shown (purple).
Roberto Molar Candanosa/Carnegie Institution for Science
STRONG SWIMMER The armored, jawed fish Dunkleosteus was a top ocean predator around 380 million to 360 million years ago, during the late Devonian Period.
AKKHARAT JARUSILAWONG/Shutterstock
RIGHT ON TARGET A painkiller made with botulinum toxin prevents certain nerve cells (green) from relaying pain information to the brain in mice.
M. Maiarù
Science News
News
Shallow reef species may not find refuge in deeper water habitats
Coral reefs in deep-water ecosystems may not make good homes for species from damaged shallow reefs.
Introducing
A new ankylosaur found in Utah had a surprisingly bumpy head
The spiky, fossilized skull of a newly discovered dinosaur species may be a road map to its ancestors’ journey to North America.
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Science Visualized
This colorful web is the most complete look yet at a fruit fly’s brain cells
Scientists compiled 21 million images to craft the highest-resolution view yet of the fruit fly brain.
Feature
The brain may clean out Alzheimer’s plaques during sleep
Sleep deprivation may speed up development of Alzheimer’s disease.
News in Brief
One particle’s trek suggests that ‘spacetime foam’ doesn’t slow neutrinos
Neutrinos and light travel at essentially the same speed, as predicted.
Feature
The ecosystem that controls a galaxy’s future is coming into focus
An invisible cloak called the circumgalactic medium controls a galaxy’s life and death.
News
How a variation on Botox could be used to treat pain
Drugs that incorporate modified botulinum toxin provide long-term pain relief, a study in mice finds.
News
New ‘Poké Ball’ robot catches deep-sea critters without harming them
A machine that gently catches and releases animals underwater could help researchers take a more detailed census of the deep sea.
News in Brief
This amber nugget from Myanmar holds the first known baby snake fossil
Amber preserves the delicate bone structure of a 99 million year old baby snake.
News in Brief
Move over, Hubble. This sharp pic of Neptune was taken from Earth
A new strategy at the Very Large Telescope lets astronomers take space telescope–quality pictures from the ground.
News
An ancient swimming revolution in the oceans may have never happened
Swimmers may not have suddenly dominated the oceans during the Devonian Period after all: New analyses suggest they took over much more gradually.
News
Jupiter has 12 more moons than we knew about — and one is bizarre
Astronomers found a dozen previously unknown moons of Jupiter, and one may be a remnant of a larger moon that was all but ground to dust.
Reviews & Previews
‘The Poisoned City’ chronicles Flint’s water crisis
A new book examines how lead ended up in Flint’s water and resulted in a prolonged public health disaster.
News
Wildfires are making extreme air pollution even worse in the northwest U.S.
America’s air is getting cleaner — except in places that are prone to wildfires.
News in Brief
Solving problems by computer just got a lot faster
A new computer program sifts through all possible solutions to find the best answer to a given problem far faster than other algorithms.
News
FDA approves the first smallpox treatment
Concerns about bioterrorism fueled the development of the first treatment for smallpox.
News in Brief
First global maps of Pluto and Charon show the worlds’ highs and lows
New charts of Pluto and its moon Charon, compiled using New Horizons’ data, reveal high peaks, deep depressions and strange ridges.
News
Pregnancy depression is on the rise, a survey suggests
Women today may be at greater risk of depression during pregnancy than previous generations.
News
Scared of heights? This new VR therapy could help
Virtual reality may be good training ground for facing your fears in real life.
50 Years Ago
50 years ago, neutrinos ghosted scientists
In the last half-century, neutrino detectors have spotted particles cast out by the sun, supernova 1987A and a supermassive black hole.
How Bizarre
Malaysia’s pig-tail macaques eat rats, head first
Pig-tail macaques are seen as a menace on Malaysian palm oil plantations, but may be helping to reduce rodent populations.
News
The right mix of gut microbes relieves autism symptoms in the long run
Replacing missing gut microbes improves autism symptoms in children even two years later.
News
Ötzi loaded up on fatty food before he died
A new analysis provides a complete picture of what was in Ötzi the Iceman’s stomach when he died.
News
A high-energy neutrino has been traced to its galactic birthplace
The high-energy particle was born in a blazar 4 billion light-years away, scientists report.