News

  1. Neuroscience

    The classic map of how the human brain manages movement gets an update

    Functional MRI scans provide a new version of the motor homunculus, the mapping of how the primary motor cortex controls parts of the body.

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  2. Archaeology

    A prehistoric method for tailoring clothes may be written in bone

    A punctured bone fragment was probably a leatherwork punch board. Perforated leather sewn together may have been seams in clothing.

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  3. Climate

    Methane may not warm the Earth quite as much as previously thought

    Methane absorbs both longwave and shortwave radiation, with competing effects on climate, a study finds. The gas remains a potent warmer of the planet.

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  4. Animals

    Octopus, squid and cuttlefish arms evolved to ‘taste’ different compounds

    Octopus suckers can taste a variety of greasy, sticky molecules, while squid and cuttlefish suckers detect bitter compounds.

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  5. Planetary Science

    Saturn’s icy rings are probably heating its atmosphere, giving it an ultraviolet glow

    Detecting similar emission from a distant world could help astronomers find other planets that boast bright and beautiful rings.

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  6. Animals

    Hibernating bears don’t get blood clots. Now scientists know why

    People who sit still for hours have an increased risk of blood clots, but hibernating bears and people with long-term immobility don’t. A key clotting protein appears to be the reason why.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Estrogen in birth control could be cut way back, a study suggests

    Delivering an extra low dose of estrogen, or a combination of estrogen and progesterone, at a specific time of the menstrual cycle may prevent ovulation.

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  8. Climate

    ‘Flash droughts’ are growing increasingly common

    Droughts are forming faster more often in much of the world due to climate change, a new study finds.

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  9. Astronomy

    The first black hole portrait got sharper thanks to machine learning

    A machine learning technique filled in data gaps in the image of M87’s black hole, resulting in a thinner ring.

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  10. Paleontology

    Newfound bat skeletons are the oldest on record

    The newly identified species Icaronycteris gunnelli lived about 52.5 million years ago in what is now Wyoming and looked a lot like modern bats.

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  11. Animals

    Freshwater leeches’ taste for snails could help control snail-borne diseases

    A freshwater leech species will eat snails, raising the possibility that leeches could be used to control snail-borne diseases that infect humans and livestock.

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  12. Animals

    The last leg of the longest butterfly migration has now been identified

    After a long journey across the Sahara, painted lady butterflies from Europe set up camp in central Africa to wait out winter and breed.

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