Notebook
- Environment
Dome effect leaves Chinese megacities under thick haze
Airborne black carbon lowers an atmospheric boundary, trapping pollution around major cities and worsening air quality, researchers propose.
- Animals
Ancient arthropod kept its brood close
A newly discovered ancient arthropod may offer clues on the evolution of parenting styles.
- Life
New habitat monitoring tools find hope for tigers
Free tools such Google Earth Engine and Global Forest Watch show there’s still enough forest left for tigers — if it’s protected.
- Health & Medicine
Global obesity rates continue to climb
Despite public health campaigns, the worldwide prevalence of obesity is on the rise, an analysis of BMI data suggest.
- Health & Medicine
Environment still tied to MS risk
50 years ago, scientists reported a possible connection between the environment and multiple sclerosis risk.
- Astronomy
This eclipse goes on and on
The longest known stellar eclipse hides a nearby star for nearly 3.5 years behind a thick clump of orbiting dust once every 69 years.
- Animals
Ancient arachnid was almost a spider
A newly discovered ancient arachnid might offer clues on spider origins.
- Astronomy
Earth’s hurricanes have nothing on this quasar
In a remote galaxy, a cosmic hurricane around a supermassive black hole is driving winds at nearly 20 percent of the speed of light.
- Earth
One of Earth’s missing minerals found locked inside meteorite
Scientists have discovered the last undiscovered dense mineral of the pyroxene group in a meteorite.
- Health & Medicine
Three big reasons why U.S. men have a shorter life expectancy
U.S. men’s lives are two years shorter than men in other rich countries for three reasons: guns, drugs and cars.
- Astronomy
Quasars’ distance no longer in question
Astronomers now know quasars live around black holes in remote galaxies, but 50 years ago, one researcher argued they were much closer.
- Planetary Science
Get your Pluto trivia down cold
Eight months after visiting Pluto, the New Horizons spacecraft has delivered a wealth of details about the dwarf planet and its family of moons.
