All Stories
- Humans
A 90,000-year-old bone knife hints special tools appeared early in Africa
The discovery of a bone knife in a Moroccan cave points to the ancient emergence of specialized toolmaking in the region.
- Astronomy
Hubble may have spotted the first known exomoon
A single sighting with the Hubble Space Telescope seems to confirm that there’s a Neptune-sized moon orbiting exoplanet Kepler 1625b.
- Chemistry
Speeding up the evolution of proteins wins the chemistry Nobel
Work on evolving new proteins from old ones takes the Nobel Prize in chemistry.
- Animals
Giraffes inherit their spots from their mothers
Africa’s tallest creatures get their characteristic patterns of spots from their moms, a new study finds.
- Physics
Dazzling laser feats earn these physicists a Nobel
The 2018 Nobel Prize in physics went to scientists — including the third-ever female winner — who made optical tweezers and boosted the strength of laser pulses.
- Climate
Tracking how rainfall morphs Earth’s surface could help forecast flooding
After Hurricane Harvey, scientists used GPS networks to track how Earth’s surface morphed under the weight of floodwaters.
- Physics
Groundbreaking ways of manipulating light win trio the 2018 physics Nobel
Three scientists, including the third woman to win a physics Nobel, are honored for their laser inventions.
- Health & Medicine
Discovery of how to prod a patient’s immune system to fight cancer wins a Nobel
Two scientists share the 2018 medicine Nobel for identifying proteins that act as brakes on tumor-fighting T cells.
- Plants
Gene editing can speed up plant domestication
CRISPR/Cas9 replays domestication to make better ground cherries and tomatoes.
- Genetics
Smuggling a CRISPR gene editor into staph bacteria can kill the pathogen
A new way fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria co-opts toxin-producing genes.
- Life
Cancer immunotherapy wins the 2018 medicine Nobel Prize
Therapies that unleash immune system brakes against cancer have earned the 2018 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.
- Astronomy
We may not have found aliens yet because we’ve barely begun looking
A new calculation says SETI searches have combed the equivalent of a hot tub out of Earth’s oceans looking for extraterrestrial intelligence in space.
