All Stories
- Planetary Science
Tiny satellites will relay news of InSight’s Mars landing in minutes, not hours
NASA’s InSight Mars lander brought along two tiny CubeSats to send details about the spacecraft’s landing to Earth in almost real time.
- Archaeology
A Bronze Age game called 58 holes was found chiseled into stone in Azerbaijan
A newly discovered rock pattern suggests that the game traveled fast from the Near East to Eurasia thousands of years ago.
- Health & Medicine
FDA restricts the sale of some flavored e-cigarettes as teen use soars
The number of high schoolers who vape rose 78 percent from 2017 to 2018.
- Astronomy
Astronomers spot another star that flickers like Tabby’s star
The irregular flickering of star VVV-WIT-07 is reminiscent of Tabby’s star, which brought speculation of alien megastructures.
- Math
It’s official: We’re redefining the kilogram
In May 2019, the system of measurement will be upgraded to rely on fundamental constants.
- Health & Medicine
Lyme and other tickborne diseases are on the rise in the U.S. Here’s what that means.
A record number of tickborne diseases were reported in the United States in 2017. An infectious disease physician discusses that result and others.
- Climate
Development near natural areas puts more Californians in the path of wildfires
As urbanization extends its reach into once-natural areas, more homes and people are at risk from wildfires.
- Microbes
Mini ‘solar panels’ help yeast shine at churning out drug ingredients
Microbes equipped with light-harvesting semiconductor particles generate useful chemicals much more efficiently than ordinary microbes.
- Genetics
Coffee or tea? Your preference may be written in your DNA
Coffee or tea is a bitter choice, a taste genetics study suggests.
- Earth
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.
- Anthropology
Skull damage suggests Neandertals led no more violent lives than humans
Neandertals’ skulls suggest they didn’t lead especially injury-prone lives.
- Animals
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.
