News
- Archaeology
Hunter-gatherers were possibly first to call Tibetan Plateau home
Hunter-gatherers may have been Asia’s first year-round, high-altitude settlers.
- Climate
Warming could disrupt Atlantic Ocean current
The Atlantic current that keeps northwestern Europe warm may be less stable under future climate change than previously thought, revised simulations show.
- Astronomy
Gotcha: Fast radio burst’s home nabbed
For the first time, astronomers pinpoint a precise position on the sky for a fast radio burst, revealing that the outburst originated in a galaxy about 2.5 billion light-years away.
- Chemistry
Carbon can exceed four-bond limit
Scientists confirm structure of unusual molecule in which carbon bonds to six other carbon atoms.
- Ecosystems
Long-ignored, high-flying arthropods could make up largest land migrations
Forget birds. 3.5 trillion insects, spiders and mites a year fly over the southern United Kingdom.
- Life
Ancient enzymes adapted to a cooler Earth to keep life’s chemical reactions going
Ancient enzymes kept their speed at lower temperatures.
- Life
Force-detecting protein senses when lungs fill with air
A study in mice pinpoints a force-detecting protein that regulates breathing, previously implicated in touch.
- Earth
‘Waterworld’ Earth preceded late rise of continents, scientist proposes
Cooling mantle temperatures may have lifted Earth’s continents above sea level, helping spur the Cambrian explosion.
- Earth
Data show no sign of methane boost from thawing permafrost
Rapid Arctic warming has increased emissions of carbon dioxide, but not methane, from northern Alaska tundra.
- Neuroscience
Pregnancy linked to long-term changes in mom’s brain
Pregnancy can sculpt a mother’s brain in a way that may help her tune in to her baby.
- Anthropology
Monkeys have vocal tools, but not brains, to talk like humans
Macaques have vocal tracts, but not brains, built for talking much as people do, scientists say.
- Tech
Cells snack on nanowires
Human cells eat silicon nanowires in a process called phagocytosis. Nanowire-infused cells could be a step towards biological electronic devices.
