All Stories
- Planetary Science
Support grows for a return to ice giants Uranus and Neptune
Thirty years ago, Voyager 2 cruised past Uranus and then on to Neptune. Now planetary scientists think it’s time to go back.
- Microbes
Cyanobacteria use their whole bodies as eyeballs
Little spheres of cyanobacteria cells roughly focus light on sensitive compounds that let them walk in the right direction.
- Environment
Urban heat islands exist even in the Arctic
Arctic cities are a source of warming in the far north. Unlike midlatitude heat islands, poorly insulated buildings — not the sun — are a primary source.
- Earth
Ocean’s plastics offer a floating fortress to a mess of microbes
Microbes take up residence on ocean plastics, potentially causing changes in ocean environments.
- Agriculture
Plants trick bacteria into attacking too soon
Scientists have discovered that a plant compound interferes with bacterial communication.
- Particle Physics
Physicists find signs of four-neutron nucleus
Strong evidence of a tetraneutron, an atomic nucleus with four neutrons but no protons, defies physicists’ theoretical expectations.
- Tech
This roach-inspired robot can wiggle through tight spaces
Cockroaches inspired a compressible, crevice-navigating robot.
- Neuroscience
Cancer drug’s usefulness against Alzheimer’s disputed
A preliminary report questions the anti-Alzheimer’s activity of a cancer-fighting drug.
- Psychology
Don’t blame winter for that bleak mood
Contrary to popular opinion, depression doesn’t spike in winter, survey finds.
- Tech
‘Rise of the Robots’ chronicles race to build disaster-relief bots
NOVA’s “Rise of the Robots” lays out the difficulties of making humanoid robots that can help out in disasters.
- Science & Society
‘GMOs’ isn’t a four-letter word, but it is hard to define
The definition of what constitutes a genetically modified organism is a challenge to those tasked with developing standards for labeling foods that contain GMOs.
- Tech
Pill measures gut gas
A gas-sensing ingestible capsule tested in pigs could someday help doctors assess people’s gastrointestinal health.
