SPACE ROCK An iron asteroid hurtles through space in this artist’s conception of an event that left a large crater in northwest Greenland sometime in the distant past.
Natural History Museum of Denmark, Cryospheric Sciences Lab/GSFC/NASA
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Magazine
In the Nov. 10 SN: Real benefits of virtual therapy, monkey malaria in humans, round electrons disappoint, mouse pups with two dads, bats’ hover techniques, Europa’s icy spikes, a vampire burial and more.
MAMMOTH WORLD A Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi), an American mastodon (Mammut americanum) and a gomphothere (Cuvieronius) were among the prehistoric elephant relatives that roamed North America and Eurasia until the end of the last ice age.
Sergio De La Rosa
STILL RECOVERING Chase Kulakowski, now aged 3, developed acute flaccid myelitis in October 2016. What started as a runny nose quickly progressed to a having lifeless right arm, the Chicago Tribune reported. But surgery and physical therapy has given Chase use of his arm again.
Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty Images
REVEAL DNA analyses of these skulls and bone fragments from Lagoa Santa, Brazil, and other ancient remains from North and South America are helping scientists learn more about the peopling of the Americas.
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Science News
News
Coffee or tea? Your preference may be written in your DNA
Coffee or tea is a bitter choice, a taste genetics study suggests.
News
A massive crater hides beneath Greenland’s ice
The discovery of a vast crater in Greenland suggests that a 1-kilometer-wide asteroid hit the Earth between 2.6 million and 11,700 years ago.
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News
Skull damage suggests Neandertals led no more violent lives than humans
Neandertals’ skulls suggest they didn’t lead especially injury-prone lives.
Feature
How mammoths competed with other animals and lost
Mammoths, mastodons and other ancient elephants were wiped out at the end of the last ice age by climate change and spear-wielding humans.
News
Sound-absorbent wings and fur help some moths evade bats
Tiny ultrathin scales on some moth wings absorb sound waves sent out by bats on the hunt.
Feature
Malaysia is ground zero for the next malaria menace
With deforestation in Malaysia, monkeys and humans are getting closer — and mosquitoes are infecting humans with malaria from monkeys.
News in Brief
U.S. cases of a polio-like illness rise, but there are few clues to its cause
A total of 90 cases of acute flaccid myelitis have been confirmed so far this year, out of 252 under investigation.
News
Climate change may have made the Arctic deadlier for baby shorebirds
What were once relatively safe havens in the Arctic are now feasting sites for predators of baby birds.
Introducing
One of Earth’s shimmering dust clouds has been spotted at last
Almost 60 years after a Polish astronomer spotted clouds of dust orbiting Earth near the moon, astronomers have detected those clouds again.
News in Brief
Physicists wrangled electrons into a quantum fractal
The tiny, repeating structure could reveal weird behavior of electrons in fractional dimensions.
Science Stats
Car tires and brake pads produce harmful microplastics
Scientists surveyed tiny airborne plastics near German highways and found that bits of tires, brake pads and asphalt make up most of the particles.
News
China is about to visit uncharted territory on the moon
The next two Chinese missions to the moon will visit places no spacecraft has been before. The rest of the world wants a piece of the lunar action.
News
A potent fish oil drug may protect high-risk patients against heart attacks
People with, or at high risk of, cardiovascular disease lowered their chances of having a heart attack or stroke with a drug containing an omega-3 fatty acid.
News
Vitamin D supplements don’t prevent heart disease or cancer
Vitamin D supplements won’t cut your risk of heart attack or stroke, according to highly anticipated study results.
Say What?
These tiny, crackly bubbles are a new type of volcanic ash
Scientists have identified a new type of volcanic ash made up of millimeter-long spheres with a crackled surface.
News
Ancient DNA suggests people settled South America in at least 3 waves
Genetic studies of ancient remains are filling in the picture of who the earliest Americans were and how they spread through the Americas long ago.
News
How a life-threatening allergic reaction can happen so fast
Cells that act as sentries facilitate quick communication between allergens and anaphylaxis-triggering immune cells, a study in mice finds.
News
These fragile, futuristic batteries run longer with a little oil
A redesign for batteries that use aluminum and oxygen could help these inexpensive, lightweight power cells last longer.
News in Brief
The number of calories you burn while resting depends on the time of day
This daily cycle of calorie burning is one of the many body processes that follow a biological clock.
News in Brief
A new drug may boost dwindling treatment options for gonorrhea
An antibiotic that targets the bacteria that causes gonorrhea proved effective in treating patients in a clinical trial.
News in Brief
Marijuana may change the decision-making part of teen brains
A marijuana-like drug given to male rats during adolescence changed the structure of their brains.
News
Like Europe, Borneo hosted Stone Age cave artists
Rock art may have spread from Borneo across Southeast Asia starting 40,000 years ago or more.
50 Years Ago
50 years ago, atomic testing created otter refugees
Nuclear testing on the island of Amchitka caused hundreds of otters to be rehomed 50 years ago. Those hundreds have grown into thousands.
News in Brief
Bizarre metals may help unlock mysteries of how Earth’s magnetic field forms
Weyl metals could simulate the dynamo effect that generates the planet’s magnetism, a new study suggests.