News
- Physics
Bouncing beads outwit Feynman
Ratchet-and-pawl thought experiment whirs to life, extracting work from bouncing beads.
- Space
Familiar comets may have distant roots
More than 90 percent of objects found in the vast outer–solar system reservoir may have been born around other stars, new computer simulations suggest.
- Earth
Ancient marine reptiles losing their cool
Warm-bloodedness may help explain the creatures’ evolutionary success, a new study suggests.
- Space
Portrait of a youthful planet
New pictures confirm that astronomers have recorded a planet circling the star Beta Pictoris, making the orb the youngest, star-orbiting extrasolar planet to be photographed.
- Ecosystems
Parasite brood gets help from nearby microbes
A critical interaction between whipworm and E. coli suggests a new way to battle the common gut infection.
- Humans
Ancient shoe steps out of cave and into limelight
Excavations in an Armenian cave have uncovered the oldest known leather footwear, a 5,500-year-old shoe.
- Health & Medicine
What’s missing may be key to understanding genetics of autism
A large study of people with the developmental disorder reveals the importance of extremely rare variations in genes, making each case a bit different.
- Earth
Gulf gusher is far and away the biggest U.S. spill
As cleanup efforts progress, scientists try to track missing oil roaming below the surface.
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- Life
Missing chemicals on Titan could signal life
Methane-based organisms on one of Saturn’s moons might be consuming the materials.
- Earth
Possible snake shortage looms
Declines among species in Europe and Africa raise herpetologists’ worries of widespread population losses.
- Climate
With warming, some commercial fish may boom and bust
Higher temps in Arctic waters might be good for some species but not for others, new research suggests.
