All Stories
- Cosmology
Here’s when the universe’s first stars may have been born
The first stars lit the cosmos by 180 million years after the Big Bang, radio observations suggest.
- Health & Medicine
When it comes to baby’s growth, early pregnancy weight may matter more than later gains
Women’s weight before and during the first half of pregnancy may be most important indicators of baby’s birth weight.
- Astronomy
Watch an experimental space shield shred a speeding bullet
Engineers tested how well a prototype shield for spacecraft would stand up to space debris by shooting it with a solid aluminum pellet.
- Cosmology
Remembering Joe Polchinski, the modest physicist who conceived a multiverse
String theorists lament the death of Joe Polchinski, one of their field’s most esteemed and respected thinkers.
- Life
A rare rainstorm wakes undead microbes in Chile’s Atacama Desert
Microbial life in Chile’s Atacama Desert bursts into bloom when moisture is available.
- Life
These giant viruses have more protein-making gear than any known virus
Scientists have found two more giant viruses in extreme environments in Brazil.
- Animals
This scratchy hiss is the closest thing yet to caterpillar vocalization
A new way that caterpillars make noise may involve (tiny) teakettle‒style turbulence.
- Neuroscience
Some flu strains can make mice forgetful
Mice infected with influenza had memory problems a month later, a result that hints at a link between infections and brain performance.
- Particle Physics
The quest to identify the nature of the neutrino’s alter ego is heating up
The search is on for a rare nuclear decay that could prove neutrinos are their own antiparticles and shed light on the universe’s antimatter mystery.
- Quantum Physics
Two-way communication is possible with a single quantum particle
One photon can transmit information in two directions at once.
- Earth
New mapping shows just how much fishing impacts the world’s seas
Industrial fishing now occurs across 55 percent of the world’s ocean area while only 34 percent of Earth’s land area is used for agriculture or grazing.
- Health & Medicine
Global Virome Project is hunting for more than 1 million unknown viruses
Scientists are searching for viruses lurking in animals that could threaten human health.
