News
- Humans
Maya wall calendar discovered
Classic-era structure displays rare calculations of lunar and planetary cycles.
By Bruce Bower - Astronomy
Sun’s shock wave goes missing
Spacecraft observations redraw astronomers’ ideas about the local stellar environment.
By Nadia Drake - Life
Culture results when chimps get cracking
Adjacent groups in Africa follow different traditions when it comes to opening nuts.
By Susan Milius - Earth
Big Antarctic ice sheet appears doomed
Warming climate is expected to trigger the sudden retreat of a partially floating glacier on the continent’s western side by 2100.
By Devin Powell - Health & Medicine
Procedure offers hope in type 1 diabetes
A new approach restored adequate, lasting insulin production in seven of 12 mice tested.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Rare neurons found in monkeys’ brains
Cells linked to empathy and consciousness in primates may offer clues to human self-awareness.
- Space
More than one way to explode a star
New observations confirm two leading theories of type 1a supernova production.
By Nadia Drake - Humans
Rural life may boost allergy resistance
Country kids had a greater diversity of bacteria associated with increased levels of the anti-inflammatory molecule IL-10.
By Devin Powell - Physics
Physicists go totally random
Calculations suggest a way to boost the independence of information flow, a finding that could help in cryptography.
- Psychology
When good moods go decisively bad
Positive feelings may lead seniors to weigh fewer options and make poorer choices in some situations.
By Bruce Bower - Humans
Crime numbers may mislead
Criminologists argue that city safety rankings should consider underreporting and other sources of error in compiling statistics.
- Earth
Study keeps pace with Greenland glaciers
Herky-jerky motion of the island’s ice suggests that melting ice is unlikely to contribute to dramatic sea level rise this century, but the news isn’t all good.
By Devin Powell