All Stories
- Astronomy
Hubble watched a lunar eclipse to see Earth from an alien’s perspective
Hubble observed sunlight filtering through Earth’s atmosphere during a lunar eclipse to see what a habitable exoplanet’s atmosphere might look like.
- Climate
Hurricanes have names. Some climate experts say heat waves should, too
A newly formed international alliance aims to raise awareness about extreme temperatures and protect vulnerable populations.
- Psychology
Why do we miss the rituals put on hold by the COVID-19 pandemic?
Even solitary rituals bind us to our groups and help calm anxieties. What happens when those traditions are upended?
- Science & Society
Interfaith soccer teams eased Muslim-Christian tensions — to a point
Soccer bonded Christian and Muslim teammates in Iraq, but that camaraderie didn’t change attitudes.
- Neuroscience
Newly discovered cells in mice can sense four of the five tastes
Some cells in mice can sense bitter, sweet, sour and umami. Without the cells, some flavor signals don’t get to the ultimate tastemaker — the brain.
- Archaeology
The oldest known grass beds from 200,000 years ago included insect repellents
Found in South Africa, 200,000-year-old bedding remnants included fossilized grass, bug-repelling ash and once aromatic camphor leaves.
- Life
Climate change, not hunters, may have killed off woolly rhinos
Ancient DNA indicates that numbers of woolly rhinos held steady long after people arrived on the scene.
- Health & Medicine
4 reasons you shouldn’t trash your neck gaiter based on the new mask study
Despite news coverage to the contrary, the study was meant to figure out how to evaluate masks, not actually do the comparison.
- Physics
Four types of flames join forces to make this eerie ‘blue whirl’
Pinning down the structure of the “amazingly complex” blaze could help scientists control it.
- Life
A single molecule may entice normally solitary locusts to form massive swarms
Scientists pinpoint a compound emitted by locusts that could inform new ways of controlling the pests.
- Space
Paradoxically, white dwarf stars shrink as they gain mass
Observations of thousands of white dwarf stars have confirmed a decades-old theory about the relationship between their masses and sizes.
- Health & Medicine
Here’s what we know about Russia’s unverified coronavirus vaccine
Despite incomplete testing, Sputnik V may be the first COVID-19 vaccine given to the general public, rolling out initially to teachers and doctors.
