News

  1. Planetary Science

    Hints of Oort clouds around other stars may lurk in the universe’s first light

    Sifting through the universe’s early light could reveal planetary graveyards orbiting other stars.

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  2. Life

    How a life-threatening allergic reaction can happen so fast

    Cells that act as sentries facilitate quick communication between allergens and anaphylaxis-triggering immune cells, a study in mice finds.

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  3. Chemistry

    These fragile, futuristic batteries run longer with a little oil

    A redesign for batteries that use aluminum and oxygen could help these inexpensive, lightweight power cells last longer.

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  4. Archaeology

    Like Europe, Borneo hosted Stone Age cave artists

    Rock art may have spread from Borneo across Southeast Asia starting 40,000 years ago or more.

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  5. Neuroscience

    Loneliness is bad for brains

    Social isolation shrinks nerve cells in the brains of mice, a new study shows.

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  6. Computing

    Virtual avatars learned cartwheels and other stunts from videos of people

    A new computer system that lets animated characters learn acrobatic skills from videos could be a cheaper alternative to traditional motion capture.

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  7. Life

    A mash-up of yeast and E. coli shows how mitochondria might have evolved

    An engineered partnership between yeast and E. coli suggests one way mitochondria may have evolved.

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  8. Physics

    A new measurement bolsters the case for a (slightly) smaller proton

    The PRad physics experiment has come up with a result favoring a punier proton.

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  9. Life

    Eating less protein may help curb gut bacteria’s growth

    A new study in mice and 30 mammal species hints at what controls the types and amounts of gut microbes, which can contribute to health and disease.

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  10. Planetary Science

    Dawn, the first spacecraft to orbit 2 alien worlds, has gone silent

    The Dawn probe, which hopped between two objects in the asteroid belt during its seven-year mission, ran out of fuel and stopped calling home.

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  11. Physics

    Vanadium dioxide’s weird phase transition just got weirder

    When shifting from one crystalline structure to another, the atoms inside vanadium dioxide bumble around a lot more than expected.

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  12. Astronomy

    The Milky Way feasted on a smaller galaxy 10 billion years ago

    The Milky Way swallowed another galaxy billions of years ago, and the leftover stars are still roaming the sky.

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