News

Environment

Rare earth elements could be pulled from coal waste

The scheme would provide valuable rare earth metals and help clean up coal mining’s dirty legacy.

Astronomy

New data show how quickly light pollution is obscuring the night sky

Tens of thousands of observations from citizen scientists spanning a decade show that the night sky is getting about 10 percent brighter every year.

Animals

Chicken DNA is replacing the genetics of their ancestral jungle fowl

Up to half of modern jungle fowl genes have been inherited from domesticated chickens. That could threaten the wild birds’ long-term survival.

Health & Medicine

Too much of this bacteria in the nose may worsen allergy symptoms

Hay fever sufferers have an overabundance of Streptococcus salivarius. The mucus-loving bacteria boost inflammation, causing an endlessly runny nose.

Materials Science

Want a ‘Shrinky Dinks’ approach to nano-sized devices? Try hydrogels

Patterning hydrogels with a laser and then shrinking them down with chemicals offers a way to make nanoscopic structures out of many materials.

Microbes

Scientists have found the first known microbes that can eat only viruses

Lab experiments show that Halteria ciliates can chow down solely on viruses. Whether these “virovores” do the same in the wild is unclear.

Animals

These adorable Australian spike-balls beat the heat with snot bubbles

An echidna’s snot bubbles coat the spiny critter’s nose with moisture, which then evaporates and draws heat from the sinus, cooling the blood.

Climate

Cyclones in the Arctic are becoming more intense and frequent

Over the last 70 years, boreal storms have steadily grown stronger. And climate change may make them worse, threatening both people and sea ice.

Physics

A powerful laser can redirect lightning strikes

In a mountaintop experiment, a laser beamed into the sky created a virtual lightning rod that snagged several bolts before they hit the ground.

Health & Medicine

Here’s what you need to know about COVID’s XBB.1.5 ‘Kraken’ variant

XBB.1.5, an offshoot of the coronavirus’s omicron variant, can hide from parts of the immune system, but vaccines and some treatments still work.

Planetary Science

Enceladus is blanketed in a thick layer of snow

Pits on the Saturnian moon reveal the surprising depth of the satellite’s snow, suggesting its plume was more active in the past.

Health & Medicine

HDL ‘good’ cholesterol isn’t always good for heart health

High levels of HDL cholesterol don’t appear to protect against heart disease, while harm from low levels may depend on race, a study reports.