News
- Health & Medicine
Zika infection late in pregnancy may be not so risky
An early report out of Colombia finds no microcephaly in babies born to a group of pregnant women infected with Zika virus during the third trimester.
- Physics
Second gravitational wave signal detected
LIGO has spotted a second set of ripples in the fabric of spacetime.
- Climate
Volcanic rocks help turn carbon emissions to stone — and fast
A pilot program in Iceland that injected carbon dioxide into basaltic lava rocks turned more than 95 percent of the greenhouse gas into stone within two years.
- Ecosystems
Ocean plankton held hostage by pirate viruses
The most abundant photosynthesizers on Earth stop storing carbon when they catch a virus.
- Neuroscience
Abnormal sense of touch may play role in autism
Autism-related genes are important for touch perception, a sense that may help the brain develop normally, a study of mice suggests.
- Life
Obesity’s weight gain message starts in gut
Acetate made by gut microbes stimulates weight gain, research in rodents suggests.
- Anthropology
Hobbit history gets new preface
Jaw, tooth fossils put new spin on evolution of Homo floresiensis.
- Life
By leaking light, squid hides in plain sight
Glass squid camouflage their eyes with wonderfully inefficient bioluminescence.
- Earth
Spy satellites reveal early start to Antarctic ice shelf collapse
Declassified spy satellite images reveal that Antarctica’s Larsen B ice shelf began destabilizing decades earlier than previously thought.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum weirdness survives space travel
Quantum weirdness travels from Earth to space and back again.
- Animals
Pygmy blue whales deepen their moans
Sri Lankan pygmy blue whales are tweaking their calls — making one part deeper and keeping another part the same — but scientists can’t say why. The finding injects a new wrinkle in theories about blue whale calls.
- Genetics
Ancient DNA tells of two origins for dogs
Genetic analysis of an ancient Irish mutt reveals complicated history of dog domestication.
