News

Planetary Science

This tiny, sizzling exoplanet could be made of molten iron

A newly discovered exoplanet that whips around its star in less than eight hours is smaller than Earth, as dense as iron and hot enough to melt.

Health & Medicine

What we know and don’t know about the omicron coronavirus variant

The new omicron variant has lots of mutations and sparked a surge of cases in South Africa, but researchers still don’t know a lot about it.

Anthropology

Ancient footprints suggest a mysterious hominid lived alongside Lucy’s kind

A previously unknown hominid species may have left its marks in muddy ash about 3.66 million years ago in what is now East Africa.

Paleontology

This dinosaur had a weapon shaped like an Aztec war club on its tail

The flat and spiky tail club of a newly discovered ankylosaur was unique, even for this often weirdly armored group of dinosaurs.

Anthropology

Ancient giant orangutans evolved smaller bodies surprisingly slowly

Fossil teeth from Chinese caves indicate that a single, ancient orangutan species gradually trimmed down over nearly 2 million years.

Chemistry

Here’s the chemistry behind marijuana’s skunky scent

Newly ID’d sulfur compounds in cannabis flowers give the plant its telltale odor. One, prenylthiol, is what also gives “skunked beer” its funky flavor.

Life

Fungi may be crucial to storing carbon in soil as the Earth warms

Fungi help soil-making bacteria churn out carbon compounds that are resilient to heat, keeping those compounds in the ground, a study suggests.

Environment

Corals may store a surprising amount of microplastics in their skeletons

In tropical waters, coral reefs may be a “sink” for tiny bits of plastic debris. It’s unclear how corals’ trash pickup might affect reef health.

Life

Albatrosses divorce more often when ocean waters warm

In one part of the Falkland Islands, up to 8 percent of the famously faithful birds ditch partners in years when the ocean is warmer than average.

Astronomy

Astronomers have found the Milky Way’s first known ‘feather’

Named for the glacier that feeds India’s longest river, the Gangotri wave spans up to 13,000 light-years and bridges two of our galaxy’s spiral arms.

Space

A space rock called Kamoʻoalewa may be a piece of the moon

New observations reveal the possible origins of a mysterious object called Kamoʻoalewa. It could be the wreckage from an ancient impact on the moon.

Quantum Physics

Scientists finally detected a quantum effect that blocks atoms from scattering light

When all available quantum states are full, atoms can’t scatter light, thanks to the Pauli exclusion principle, new experiments show.