News
- Earth
Asteroids boiled young Earth’s oceans, remnant rocks suggest
Giant asteroid impacts may have boiled Earth’s oceans around 3.3 billion years ago, snuffing out near-surface life.
- Animals
Deepwater dweller is first known warm-hearted fish
The opah, a deep-diving fish, can keep much of its body warmer than its surroundings, making it similar to warm-blooded birds and mammals.
- Oceans
Mysterious form of phosphorus explained
Mysterious form of phosphorus may be used as shadow currency by marine microbes, potentially upending scientists’ understanding of nutrient exchanges.
- Neuroscience
Fruit flies flee from shadows
Studying flies’ responses to an ominous shadow may lead to a deeper understanding of humans’ emotions.
- Genetics
MicroRNAs track radiation doses
MicroRNAs in the blood may indicate radiation damage, a study of mice finds.
- Physics
Electron pairs can take the heat
Electrons have been found pairing up for the first time in a solid that is not in a superconducting state.
- Animals
Nighttime light pollution sabotages sex pheromones of moths
Artificial lighting at night can trick female moths into releasing skimpy, odd-smelling sex pheromones.
- Genetics
Molecular scissors snip at cancer’s Achilles’ heel
Finding cancer’s vulnerable spots using CRISPR technology could lead to drugs that hit the disease hard.
- Astronomy
Andromeda reaches out to touch Milky Way
The Andromeda galaxy is enveloped in a wispy halo of gas that extends halfway to the Milky Way.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum experiment dissects wave-particle mash-up
A modified version of a landmark quantum physics experiment has shown that a single parcel of light can be a particle and a wave simultaneously.
- Climate
Rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide rise unprecedented
The current rate of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere is unprecedented over at least the last 66 million years, new research shows.
- Planetary Science
Origin date established for Mercury’s magnetic field
A 3.8-billion-year-old magnetic field on Mercury provides clues as to how the once volcanically active planet evolved.
