Notebook
- Astronomy
50 years ago, astronomers challenged claims that Barnard’s star has a planet
Astronomers have been searching for planets around the sun’s close neighbor for decades.
- Space
A telescope dropped dark matter data from the edge of space. Here’s why
Last May, NASA’s Super Pressure Balloon Imaging Telescope crash-landed in rural Argentina. Scientists scrambled to recover the dark matter data aboard.
- Animals
This bird hasn’t been seen in 38 years. Its song may help track it down
Using bioacoustics, South American scientists are eavesdropping on a forest in hopes of hearing the song of the long-missing purple-winged ground dove.
- Science & Society
Reindeer herders and scientists collaborate to understand Arctic warming
Siberian reindeer herders and scientists are working together to figure out how to predict rain-on-snow events that turn tundra into deadly ice.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, scientists suspected that lost sense of smell could be restored
Cells responsible for humans’ sense of smell can regenerate. Now, research spurred on by the pandemic could help answer questions about the process.
- Environment
Grassland and shrubland fires destroy more U.S. homes than forest fires
Grassland and shrubland fires destroyed nearly 11,000 homes in the contiguous United States from 1990 to 2020.
- Planetary Science
50 years ago, the first probe to visit Mercury launched
In the 1970s, NASA’s Mariner 10 became the first spacecraft to visit Mercury. Only one other probe has made the journey and another one is on its way.
- Climate
50 years ago, scientists warned of the ‘neglected dangers’ of heat islands
In 1973, scientists knew temperatures in cities were higher than in rural areas. Now, some cities are attempting to cool down with engineering.
- Math
An enduring Möbius strip mystery has finally been solved
Playing with paper and scissors helped one mathematician figure out just how short the twisted loops can be.
- Physics
50 years ago, scientists dreamed of lasers that could kick off nuclear fusion
In the 1970s, lasers that could initiate nuclear fusion were a distant dream. Now, scientists are using such lasers to achieve fusion “ignition.”
- Astronomy
Astronomers call for renaming the Magellanic Clouds
Explorer Ferdinand Magellan is not a fitting namesake for the pair of satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, a group of scientists argues.
- Planetary Science
How drones are helping scientists find meteorites
Searching for fallen space rocks is labor intensive. A team of researchers in Australia is speeding things up with drones and machine learning.
