News
- Neuroscience
Giggling rats help reveal how brain creates joy
Rats relish a good tickle, which activates nerve cells in a part of the brain that detects touch.
- Life
Protein mobs kill cells that most need those proteins to survive
A protein engineered to aggregate gives clues about how clumpy proteins kill brain cells.
- Archaeology
Stone adze points to ancient burial rituals in Ireland
A polished stone tool discovered in Ireland’s earliest known gravesite helps scientists revive an ancient burial ceremony.
- Climate
CO2-loving plants can counter human emissions
Plants temporarily halted the acceleration of rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, new research suggests.
- Physics
Supersolids produced in exotic state of quantum matter
Bose-Einstein condensates display properties of liquid and solid simultaneously.
- Planetary Science
X-ray mystery shrouds Pluto
Chandra telescope detects seven X-ray photons coming from Pluto, suggesting that the solar wind runs into a tail of gas streaming from the dwarf planet.
- Particle Physics
Muon surplus leaves physicists searching for answers
A glut of muons shows up in particle showers in the atmosphere.
- Neuroscience
Shape-shifting molecule aids memory in fruit flies
A prionlike protein may store long-term memories in fruit flies, a new study suggests.
- Genetics
Cancer mutation patterns differ in smokers, nonsmokers
The DNA of smokers shows more damage than the DNA of nonsmokers who have the same kind of cancer.
- Climate
Human CO2 emissions put Arctic on track to be ice-free by 2050
Sea ice is shrinking by about three square meters for each metric ton of carbon dioxide emitted, new research suggests.
- Archaeology
People settled Australia’s rugged interior surprisingly early
Ancient colonists Down Under crossed the continent not long after arriving around 50,000 years ago.
- Genetics
Gene gives mice and chipmunks their pinstripes
A recycled regulator paints on rodents’ light stripes.
