All Stories
- Health & Medicine
How Hans Berger’s quest for telepathy spurred modern brain science
In the 1920s, psychiatrist Hans Berger invented EEG and discovered brain waves — though not long-range signals.
- Humans
How wielding lamps and torches shed new light on Stone Age cave art
Experiments with stone lamps and juniper branch torches are helping scientists see 12,500-year-old cave art with fresh eyes.
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Tasking trees with averting the climate crisis is a big ask
Editor in chief Nancy Shute discusses whether planting trees can help us avert the climate crisis, or if it is another quick-fix gimmick.
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- Earth
A WWII submarine-hunting device helped prove the theory of plate tectonics
With a boost from World War II, the fluxgate magnetometer became a portable and invaluable tool.
- Health & Medicine
What experts know so far about the delta variant
The variant, which first emerged in India, is outcompeting other highly transmissible forms of the coronavirus as it spreads around the world.
- Astronomy
Scientists spotted an electron-capture supernova for the first time
A flare that appeared in the sky in 2018 was an electron-capture supernova, a blast that can occur in stars too small to go off the usual way.
- Animals
Focusing on Asian giant hornets distorts the view of invasive species
2021’s first “murder hornet” is yet another arrival. This is the not-so-new normal.
- Earth
Invisible bursts of electricity from volcanoes signal explosive eruptions
Mysterious “vent discharges” could help warn of impending explosions, a study of Japan’s Sakurajima volcano shows.
- Paleontology
Fossilized dung from a dinosaur ancestor yields a new beetle species
Whole beetles preserved in fossilized poo suggest that ancient droppings may deserve a closer look.
- Astronomy
This moon-sized white dwarf is the smallest ever found
A newfound white dwarf is the smallest and perhaps the most massive known, and spins around once every seven minutes.
- Health & Medicine
A malaria vaccine with live parasites shows promise in a small trial
After taking anti-malarial drugs after each vaccine dose to clear the parasite from the body, volunteers appeared well-protected from infection.
