News
- Astronomy
Lucky shot
To protect its sensitive optics, the Hubble Space Telescope had to turn its back on last November’s Leonid meteor storm, and that fortuitously put the luminous Helix nebula directly in the telescope’s sightline.
- Physics
A new twist on ropes
The centuries-old craft of splicing sturdy ropes for ships and ocean rigs gets mathematical scrutiny, turning up new information about wear and tear.
- Tech
Tiny device brings out the best in sperm
A new device with potential use in fertility treatments separates robust sperm from stragglers by exploiting a phenomenon that occurs when two microscale fluid flows merge.
- Earth
Satellites unravel a spot of mystery
Five satellites that happened to be in the right places at the right time may have confirmed the cause of proton auroral spots, aurora-like phenomena that appear high in Earth's atmosphere.
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Toddlers ride rail to tool use
Toddlers' ability to modify their use of a handrail as they walk across a narrow bridge represents an early example of tool use, according to two psychologists.
- Astronomy
Galactic RAVE
A new study of thousands of Milky Way stars and their motion toward and away from Earth should provide new clues about how our galaxy formed.
- Health & Medicine
Cancer Advance: Treatment combinations stall colorectal cancer
Two experimental drugs can induce remission in colorectal cancer patients and extend their survival.
- Animals
Skin Scam: Parasite’s host provides an insect hideaway
A group of parasitic insects called Strepsiptera can hide inside their victim by making the host form a protective bag of its own skin.
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Babble Rousers: Babies find their voice when given social push
Eight-month-old infants utter more complex, speechlike sounds when their mothers encourage them with well-timed touches and smiles rather than with words offered as models to imitate.
- Planetary Science
Slowdown on Saturn? Windy doings on the ringed planet
The winds in Saturn’s upper atmosphere are some of the swiftest in the solar system, but recent findings suggest there’s been a dramatic slowdown.
- Materials Science
Caught on Tape: Gecko-inspired adhesive is superstrong
Researchers have emulated a gecko's sticking power to create a superstrong adhesive.
- Earth
Sticky Situation: Nonstick surfaces can turn toxic at high heat
Nonstick cookware can, if overheated, sicken people and kill birds, according to a new analysis of research published over the past 40 years.
