News in Brief

  1. Planetary Science

    Impact from a space rock may have helped shape Pluto’s heart

    Pluto’s heart is deep basin, possibly caused by a run in with something else in the Kuiper belt.

    By
  2. Health & Medicine

    Organ waiting list policy benefits the wealthy, study charges

    Wealthier patients can afford to get on more organ transplant lists, giving them an advantage, a new study says.

    By
  3. Physics

    Water droplets spontaneously bounce, sans trampoline

    Initially stationary water droplets can bounce on an extremely water-repellent surface as if on a trampoline.

    By
  4. Paleontology

    Ancient larvae built predator-thwarting mazes

    Mazelike tunnels built by ancient insect larvae offered protection from predators, paleontologists propose.

    By
  5. Earth

    New recipe for diamonds: Just add acid

    Simulating the chemistry, pressures and temperatures in Earth’s interior, scientists have discovered a new way diamonds can form.

    By
  6. Animals

    World’s smallest snail record broken again

    Snails may not be speedy, but itty-bitty snail shells found in Borneo are breaking a size record at a breakneck pace.

    By
  7. Planetary Science

    Probes unveil three hidden blemishes on moon’s face

    Gravitational tugs on a pair of spacecraft have revealed previously unseen blemishes on the moon’s face.

    By
  8. Animals

    Cat-versus-virus arms race goes back millennia

    Researchers have found evidence of an ancient arms race between Felis silvestris catus, the species familiar today as the domestic cat, and feline immuno­deficiency virus.

    By
  9. Astronomy

    Comet carries alcohol, sugar

    Sugar and alcohol are just two of the ingredients that go into making a comet.

    By
  10. Genetics

    Muscle-gene edit creates buff beagles

    Gene editing works at low efficiency in dogs.

    By
  11. Astronomy

    White dwarf upsets planetary system, consumes evidence

    Rocky planets are disintegrating around a white dwarf, the core of a dead star.

    By
  12. Animals

    For glowworms, the brightest girls get the guy

    Brighter female glowworms attract more mates and lay more eggs than their dimmer peers.

    By