News
- Science & Society
The gap in parenting time between middle- and working-class moms has shrunk
Some well-educated mothers are spending less time with their kids than before, while some less-educated mothers are spending more, a new study shows.
- Materials Science
These weird, thin ice crystals are springy and bendy
Specially grown fibers of frozen water bend into curves and spring back when released.
- Life
Sea otters stay warm thanks to leaky mitochondria in their muscles
For the smallest mammal in the ocean, staying warm is a challenge. Now, scientists have figured out how the animals keep themselves toasty.
- Plants
How Romanesco cauliflower forms its spiraling fractals
By tweaking just three genes in a common lab plant, scientists have discovered the mechanism responsible for one of nature’s most impressive fractals.
- Health & Medicine
How your DNA may affect whether you get COVID-19 or become gravely ill
A study of 45,000 people links 13 genetic variants to higher COVID-19 risks, including a link between blood type and infection and a newfound tie between FOXP4 and severe disease.
- Climate
Human-driven climate change sent Pacific Northwest temperatures soaring
As scientists dissect what pushed temperatures up to 5 degrees Celsius above previous records, they may have to revamp how to predict heat waves.
- Space
Souped-up supernovas may produce much of the universe’s heavy elements
An old star that formed from an explosive event called a magnetorotational hypernova is revealing where elements like uranium and silver might be forged.
- Agriculture
A tweaked yeast can make ethanol from cornstalks and a harvest’s other leftovers
By genetically modifying baker’s yeast, scientists figured out how to get almost as much ethanol from cornstalks as kernels.
- Health & Medicine
How antibodies may cause rare blood clots after some COVID-19 vaccines
Vaccine-induced antibodies attach to a specific spot on a protein involved in clot formation, a study suggests.
- Astronomy
A shadowy birthplace may explain Jupiter’s strange chemistry
Dust that blocked sunlight caused the giant planet to form in a deep freeze, a new study suggests.
- Humans
How wielding lamps and torches shed new light on Stone Age cave art
Experiments with stone lamps and juniper branch torches are helping scientists see 12,500-year-old cave art with fresh eyes.
- Health & Medicine
What experts know so far about the delta variant
The variant, which first emerged in India, is outcompeting other highly transmissible forms of the coronavirus as it spreads around the world.
