News
- Particle Physics
Evidence for new Higgs-related particle fades away
A close look at data from the Large Hadron Collider finds no evidence that the Higgs boson decays into a new, unknown particle.
By Andrew Grant - Life
Vagina bacteria make molecules that could be drugs
Microbes on the human body are capable of producing thousands of small molecules that hold potential as drugs.
- Earth
Warming alone triggered Antarctic ice shelf collapse
Warming surface temperatures, not an unstable foundation, probably doomed Antarctica’s Larsen B ice shelf.
- Health & Medicine
Experimental herpes drug outperforms first-line med
An experimental treatment for genital herpes suppresses the viral infection better than the standard drug, but animal tests raise concerns about side effects.
By Nathan Seppa - Paleontology
Lost-and-found dinosaur thrived in water
Fossils pieced together through ridiculous luck reveal Spinosaurus to be the only known dinosaur adapted for regular ventures into water.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Clinical trial reanalyses may alter who should get treated
Reanalyses of clinical trial data sometimes lead to different treatment suggestions.
- Paleontology
Fossils push back origins of modern mammals
Fossils of three newly identified early mammals from China suggest that the common ancestor of today’s mammals lived over 200 million years ago.
By Meghan Rosen - Archaeology
Pyramid builders could have used rolling blocks
Instead of sliding blocks on a ramp, ancient Egyptians could have rolled the massive bricks to the pyramids, a physicist suggests.
By Meghan Rosen - Health & Medicine
Autism treatment for babies shows promise in small study
A small study finds that changing how parents interact with infants may reduce autism symptoms.
- Planetary Science
Plate tectonics spotted on Europa
First evidence for plate tectonics elsewhere in solar system discovered on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.
- Astronomy
Plasma corkscrews form on sun during stellar eruption
Coronal mass ejection creates twisted loop in sun’s magnetic field.
- Microbes
Magnets diagnose malaria in minutes
A small magnet-based device provides faster, more-sensitive malaria diagnosis in mice.
By Nsikan Akpan