Skip to content

Subscribe today

Every print subscription comes with full digital access

All Topics
- Health
- Humans
- Life
- Earth
- Physics
- Space

Magazine
Menu
About
For Students
Our Store

Donate

Science News

INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM SINCE 1921 SIGN IN

Search

Science News

INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM SINCE 1921

All Topics
- Earth
- Humans
- Life
  - Animals
  - Plants
  - Ecosystems
  - Paleontology
  - Neuroscience
  - Genetics
  - Microbes
- Physics
- Space
- Tech
  - Computing
  - Artificial Intelligence
- Chemistry
- Math
- Science & Society
Health
Humans
- Humans
- - Neuroscience
    These windpipe cells trigger coughs to keep water out of the lungs
    
    By Nora Bradford6 hours ago
  - Archaeology
    A puzzling mix of artifacts raises questions about Homo sapiens' travels to China
    
    By Bruce BowerApril 17, 2024
  - Health & Medicine
    What can period blood reveal about a person’s health?
    
    By Payal DharApril 16, 2024
Life
- Life
  - Animals
  - Plants
  - Ecosystems
  - Paleontology
  - Neuroscience
  - Genetics
  - Microbes
- - Neuroscience
    These windpipe cells trigger coughs to keep water out of the lungs
    
    By Nora Bradford6 hours ago
  - Neuroscience
    Tiny treadmills show how fruit flies walk
    
    By Laura SandersApril 17, 2024
  - Animals
    Hibernating bumblebee queens have a superpower: Surviving for days underwater
    
    By Darren IncorvaiaApril 16, 2024
Earth
- Earth
- - Earth
    Polar forests may have just solved a solar storm mystery
    
    By Carolyn GramlingApril 9, 2024
  - Space
    During the awe of totality, scientists studied our planet’s reactions
    
    By Adam MannApril 8, 2024
  - Environment
    Heat waves cause more illness and death in U.S. cities with fewer trees
    
    By Jude ColemanApril 8, 2024
Physics
- Physics
- - Physics
    Physicists take a major step toward making a nuclear clock
    
    By Emily ConoverApril 4, 2024
  - Life
    During a total solar eclipse, some colors really pop. Here’s why
    
    By Tina Hesman SaeyApril 1, 2024
  - Physics
    A teeny device can measure subtle shifts in Earth’s gravitational field
    
    By Adam MannMarch 26, 2024
Space
- Space
- - Planetary Science
    Jupiter’s moon Io may have been volcanically active ever since it was born
    
    By Nikk Ogasa11 hours ago
  - Space
    50 years ago, scientists found a lunar rock nearly as old as the moon
    
    By Emily ConoverApril 11, 2024
  - Space
    How a sugar acid crucial for life could have formed in interstellar clouds
    
    By Saugat BolakheApril 11, 2024

Feature

Basement Dating

Share this:

Email
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Pocket
Reddit
Print

By Science News

Magazine Issue: Vol. 129 No. #20, May 17, 1986

Having trouble viewing this? Open in a new window

Questions or comments on this article? E-mail us at feedback@sciencenews.org | Reprints FAQ

A version of this article appears in the May 17, 1986 issue of Science News.

We are at a critical time and supporting climate journalism is more important than ever. Science News and our parent organization, the Society for Science, need your help to strengthen environmental literacy and ensure that our response to climate change is informed by science.

Please subscribe to Science News and add $16 to expand science literacy and understanding.

Related Stories

Neuroscience
These windpipe cells trigger coughs to keep water out of the lungs

By Nora Bradford6 hours ago
Planetary Science
Jupiter’s moon Io may have been volcanically active ever since it was born

By Nikk Ogasa11 hours ago
Archaeology
A puzzling mix of artifacts raises questions about Homo sapiens' travels to China

By Bruce BowerApril 17, 2024

Science News

Science News was founded in 1921 as an independent, nonprofit source of accurate information on the latest news of science, medicine and technology. Today, our mission remains the same: to empower people to evaluate the news and the world around them. It is published by the Society for Science, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership organization dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education (EIN 53-0196483).

Science News Explores
Science News Learning

Subscriber Services

Subscribe
Renew
Give a Gift Subscription
Customer Service

Follow Science News on Facebook
Follow Science News on X
Follow Science News via RSS
Follow Science News on Instagram
Follow Science News on YouTube
Follow Science News on TikTok

More Information

FAQ
Newsletters
Rights & Permissions
Advertise
Contact

Society for Science

About the Society
Society Store
Donate
Careers

© Society for Science & the Public 2000–2024. All rights reserved.

1719 N Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036 202.785.2255

Terms of Service Privacy Policy

Log in

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.

Not a subscriber?
Become one now.

Client key* E-mail Address*