All Stories
- Neuroscience
A mother mouse’s gut microbes help wire her pup’s brain
The pups of mice lacking gut microbes, and the compounds they make, have altered nerve cells in part of the brain and a lowered sensitivity to touch.
- Space
EHT data show turbulence makes the glowing ring around M87’s black hole wobble
Event Horizon Telescope data spanning nearly a decade reveal that the appearance of the supermassive black hole inside galaxy M87 changes over time.
- Health & Medicine
Early immune responses may be why younger people get less sick from COVID-19
Age-related differences in coronavirus immune defenses hint that a boost in early immune responses from drugs or a vaccine could help protect people.
- Health & Medicine
Antibodies made in the lab show some promise for treating COVID-19
Preliminary results from two companies hint that the proteins can help COVID-19 patients from needing hospitalization or ventilation.
- Space
Stellar winds hint at how planetary nebulae get their stunning shapes
Observations of red giant stars reveal that planets or even other stars may influence the shape of a nebula’s cloud of dust and gas.
- Planetary Science
Rosetta data reveal an invisible ultraviolet aurora around comet 67P
Solar wind electrons smash water molecules in the comet’s coma to make the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko’s version of the northern lights.
- Animals
A tiny crustacean fossil contains roughly 100-million-year-old giant sperm
Giant sperm preserved in an ancient ostracod may be the oldest known sperm fossil, showing that giant sperm have existed at least 100 million years.
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When the human body outwits a deadly virus
Editor in chief Nancy Shute writes about triumphs of the human immune system over HIV.
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- Animals
Cheap, innovative venom treatments could save tens of thousands of snakebite victims
Momentum is building to finally tackle a neglected health problem that strikes poor, rural communities.
- Health & Medicine
What will happen when COVID-19 and the flu collide this fall?
As the Northern Hemisphere braces for a coronavirus-flu double hit, it’s unclear if it’ll be a deadly combo or one virus will squeeze out the other.
- Environment
What we know and don’t know about wildfire smoke’s health risks
As wildfires become more frequent and severe in California, Oregon and throughout the West Coast, concerns rise about harmful air pollution.
