All Stories
- Physics
STEVE the aurora makes its debut in mauve
A newly discovered type of aurora is a visible version of usually invisible charged particles drifting in the upper atmosphere.
- Plants
Liverwort reproductive organ inspires pipette design
A new pipette is inspired by a plant’s female reproductive structure.
- Planetary Science
Dwarf planet Ceres may store underground brine that still gushes up today
Waterlogged minerals and changing ice add to evidence that Ceres is geologically active.
- Astronomy
New Horizons’ next target has been dubbed Ultima Thule
NASA has named New Horizons spacecraft’s next target Ultima Thule after the public suggested tens of thousands of monikers for the Kuiper Belt object.
- Health & Medicine
Hospital admissions show the opioid crisis affects kids, too
Opioid-related hospitalizations for children are up, a sad statistic that shows the opioid epidemic doesn’t just affect adults.
- Math
Forget Pi Day. We should be celebrating Tau Day
Pi Day may be fun, but it’s based on a flawed mathematical constant.
- Cosmology
Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking dies at 76
Beyond his research contributions, Stephen Hawking popularized black holes and the deep questions of the cosmos.
- Planetary Science
Cosmic dust may create Mars’ wispy clouds
Magnesium left by passing comets seeds the clouds of Mars, a new study suggests.
- Neuroscience
Brain waves may focus attention and keep information flowing
Not just by-products of busy nerve cells, brain waves may be key to how the brain operates.
- Animals
Dino-bird had wings made for flapping, not just gliding
Archaeopteryx fossils suggest the dino-birds were capable of flapping their wings in flight.
- Astronomy
We probably won’t hear from aliens. But by the time we do, they’ll be dead.
Astronomers build on the Drake Equation to probe the chance that humans will find existing aliens. The answer: Not likely.
- Neuroscience
How biology breaks the ‘cerebral mystique’
The Biological Mind rejects the idea of the brain as the lone organ that makes us who we are. Our body and environment also factor in, Alan Jasanoff says.
