News
- Health & Medicine
Rare eastern equine encephalitis has killed 9 people in the U.S. in 2019
2019 is the worst eastern equine encephalitis outbreak since tracking began in 2003, with 31 cases and nine deaths from the brain infection so far.
- Humans
Human embryos have extra hand muscles found in lizards but not most adults
In developing human embryos, muscles are made, then lost, in a pattern that mirrors the appearance of the structures during evolution.
- Earth
Hurricane Lorenzo hit Category 5 farther east than any other storm
Lorenzo reached category 5 status on September 28, making it the northern-most and eastern-most category 5 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic.
- Humans
Personalized diets may be the future of nutrition. But the science isn’t all there yet
How a person responds to food depends on more than the food itself. But what exactly is still a confusing mix of genes, microbes and other factors.
- Space
NASA’s new black hole visualizations showcase how gravity warps light
Images from computer simulations highlight how the extreme gravity of a black hole tampers with light rays emanating from its accretion disk to create weird patterns.
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Mice fidget. Those motions have big effects on their brains
Unnecessary motion has a profound and widespread effect on nerve cell behavior in mice.
- Humans
Vaping-related illness reports have surged to 805 from 46 U.S. states
Twelve people have now died from lung injuries tied to e-cigarettes, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds.
- Life
Connecting our dwindling natural habitats could help preserve plant diversity
As pristine habitats shrink worldwide, a massive, 18-year experiment suggests that linking up what's left with natural corridors could help ecosystems retain plant diversity.
- Health & Medicine
A mouse’s metabolism may follow circadian rhythms set by gut bacteria
While animals’ circadian clocks control functions from sleep to hormone release, gut bacteria dictate when mice’s small intestines take up fat.
- Space
This fast radio burst shined a light on a galaxy’s mysterious gas halo
A lucky alignment let astronomers probe one galaxy’s diffuse gas using a brief, bright blast from a more distant galaxy.
- Health & Medicine
Rockland’s measles outbreak is over, but U.S. elimination status is still at risk
Officials in Rockland County in New York announced that their measles outbreak, which began October 1 of last year, is finally finished.
- Life
Losing genes may have helped whales’ ancestors adapt to life under the sea
Jettisoning genes tied to saliva and the lungs, among others, could have smoothed ancient cetaceans’ land-to-water transition 50 million years ago.
