All Stories
- Chemistry
Radioactive fuel turns to goo during nuclear meltdown
Experiments reveal the atomic rearrangements that occur within uranium dioxide when nuclear reactors fail.
- Archaeology
Barley elevated Central Asian farmers to ‘the roof of the world’
Hardy western crops allowed villagers to settle in the cold, thin air atop the Tibetan Plateau.
- Cosmology
Galaxies may be aligned across 1 billion light-years
Powerful plasma jets from cores of galaxies seem to mysteriously align with one another and hint at an unknown mechanism shaping galaxy groups.
- Neuroscience
After injury, estrogen may shield the brain
Estrogen helps to prevent some of the chronic inflammation that occurs after brain injury.
- Planetary Science
Setting sights on Mars — a half-century ago
Fifty years ago, the United States turned its eyes toward Mars and set a goal of sending humans as soon as possible.
- Health & Medicine
The kids will be all right
Children are generally as resilient as adults when it comes to acute trauma, and studies suggest that a little stress and exercise might help kids cope with disasters.
- Animals
Virus implicated in sea star die-off
Sea stars on the west coast have been wasting away into puddles of slime. Now, scientists think they have pinpointed the virus that is causing the mass die-off of the dazzling marine creatures.
- Particle Physics
Two new particles found at Large Hadron Collider
Physicists with the Large Hadron Collider beauty experiment have identified two new particles called Xi_b'- and Xi_b*-.
- Neuroscience
Breathing returns to paralyzed rats
Scar tissue–busting enzyme plus rehabilitation therapy improves respiration long after rats’ initial spinal cord injuries.
- Life
Norovirus can play protective role in mice
In mice, viral infection can help intestines develop, strengthen immune system.
- Neuroscience
Areas people like to be caressed match up with nerve fibers
A caress in a sweet spot at the right speed activates nerve fibers tied to social touch.
- Planetary Science
Planets stake their claim around infant star
At the center of the newly released telescope image is HL Tau, a star located about 450 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. A dense disk of gas and dust surrounds the star, which is a youthful million years old.
