All Stories
- Animals
Dolphins’ open-mouth behaviors during play are like smiles, a study claims
Experts urge caution in calling bottlenosed dolphins’ gesture a humanlike “smile,” but agree it seems to be important for how the animals communicate.
- Physics
Thunderstorms churn up a ‘boiling pot’ of gamma rays
A thunderstorm seen in gamma-ray vision is a complex, frenetic lightshow when viewed from above the clouds.
- Health & Medicine
A hurricane’s aftermath may spur up to 11,000 deaths
Hurricanes like Helene may indirectly cause deaths for years. Stress, pollution and a loss of infrastructure could all contribute to tropical cyclone fatalities.
- Animals
Coyotes have the face muscles for that ‘sad-puppy’ look
The ability to make heart-melting stares may not be the fruit of dog domestication if their still-wild cousins have the power to do it too.
- Climate
Why Hurricane Helene was so devastating
The tempest caused record-breaking storm surge on the coast and widespread and deadly flooding and debris flows in the Appalachian Mountains.
- Life
The fruit fly revolutionized biology. Now it’s boosting science in Africa
African researchers are using Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies to advance studies of genetics, biomedicine, developmental biology, toxicology and more.
- Animals
Bird nests made with a toxic fungus seem to fend off attacking ants
Two species of birds in Costa Rica build nests in trees defended by ants. Ants that encounter the horsehair fungus in the nests develop odd behaviors.
- Astronomy
Betelgeuse has a tiny companion star hidden in plain sight
Betelgeuse has a sequel — in the form of a companion star that's about the same mass as the sun, orbiting it about once every 2,100 days.
- Astronomy
Starlink satellites’ leaky radio waves obscure the cosmos
Starlink satellites unintentionally emit radio waves that appear more than 10 million times brighter than natural sources, as seen by ground-based radio telescopes.
- Animals
‘Night Magic’ invites you to celebrate the living wonders of the dark
In the book ‘Night Magic,’ Leigh Ann Henion writes of encounters with salamanders, bats, glowworms and other life-forms nurtured by darkness.
- Climate
How rapid intensification spawned two monster hurricanes in one week
New maps of wind impacts beyond Helene’s ‘cone of uncertainty’ track highlight how a hurricane’s power extends far inland.
- Chemistry
Scientists may have an explanation for why some batteries don’t last
A long-standing idea of why lithium ion batteries die focuses on lithium movement into the cathode. Instead, hydrogen may be to blame.
