All Stories
- Chemistry
After 75 years, plutonium is still NASA’s fuel of choice
On the 75th anniversary of the discovery of plutonium, the radioactive element is still not a major source of fuel for nuclear power plants in the United States.
- Animals
Chubby king penguins wobble when they waddle
King penguins’ weight gain makes their waddle a bit wobbly, study suggests.
- Humans
Human DNA found in a Neandertal woman
Interbreeding between humans and Neandertals happened earlier than thought, leaving traces in the Neandertal genome.
- Astronomy
Black hole heavyweights triggered gravity wave event
Those gravity waves came from two black holes more massive than any known outside a galactic core and formed in an environment different than the Milky Way.
- Planetary Science
120 seconds in Pluto’s shadow
A 747 outfitted with a telescope worked with New Horizons to reveal details about Pluto’s atmosphere.
- Physics
Gravity waves exemplify the power of intelligent equations
Discovering gravity waves confirms Einstein and illustrates the power of the human mind to discern physical phenomena hidden in mathematical equations.
- Animals
Slow-moving nurse sharks have a metabolism to match
The nurse shark has the slowest metabolism of any shark measured so far, a new study finds.
- Health & Medicine
Lead’s damage can last a lifetime, or longer
Scientists have known for decades that lead is toxic to the brain, but the mark lead exposure leaves on children may actually stretch into adulthood, and perhaps even future generations.
- Life
Memory cells enhance strategy for fighting blood cancers
Immune therapy made more powerful with memory T cells.
- Tech
New clues illuminate mysteries of ancient Egyptian portraits
New analyses shed light on how ancient Egyptian “mummy paintings” were made.
- Science & Society
Sometimes busting myths can backfire
When Neil deGrasse Tyson busted the flat-Earth myth on Twitter, he got the world’s attention. But did the myth-busting work? Or did it backfire?
- Neuroscience
Re-creating womb sounds perks preemies’ attention
Babies born prematurely may benefit from hearing a recording of their mothers’ voices and heartbeats.
