Notebook
- Genetics
Enormous quantities may soon be called ‘genomical’
Genetic data may soon reach beyond astronomical proportions.
- Paleontology
50-million-year-old fossil sperm discovered
Ancient worm sperm preserved in 50-million-year-old cocoons from Antarctica set age record.
- Astronomy
Source of blazars’ super brightness comes into focus
Astronomers take a close look at a blazar, a galaxy whose central black hole emits gamma rays and other high-energy material toward Earth.
- Life
A downy killer wages chemical warfare
The common fungus Beauveria bassiana makes white downy corpses of its victims.
- Tech
Flame-finding pistols set off decades of blazing technology
Researchers unveiled a gun-shaped flame detector in 1965
- Earth
Natural concrete keeps lid on Italian volcano
Naturally occurring, concretelike rock allows the ground around Italy’s Campi Flegrei caldera to bulge without bursting.
- Animals
Giant pandas live in the slow lane
Giant pandas burn far less energy than similarly sized land mammals.
- Tech
Plastic shell lets roach-bot squeeze through gaps
An arched shell helps a six-legged robot shimmy past obstacles.
- Animals
Centipede discovered in caves 1,000 meters belowground
A newly discovered centipede species lives deep underground.
- Physics
In retirement, Nobelist takes up moon bouncing
A lifelong amateur radio enthusiast, Joseph Taylor sends signals via the moon.
- Planetary Science
50 years ago, Mariner 4 sent back first pictures from Mars
On July 14, 1965, Mariner 4 became the first spacecraft to fly by Mars. The probe also sent back the first pictures of another planet taken from space.
- Animals
Newly discovered yeti crab swarms around Antarctic hydrothermal vents
A newly discovered species of yeti crab thrives in tough conditions on Antarctic hydrothermal vents.
