Notebook
- Climate
Onshore hurricanes in a slump
No major hurricanes have made landfall in the United States for over nine years. That’s a rare occurrence, new research shows.
- Life
‘Geographic tongue’ creates unique topography
A condition called ‘geographic tongue’ makes mouth organ appear maplike.
- Health & Medicine
Why cancer patients waste away
A tumor-produced protein that interferes with insulin causes wasting in fruit flies with cancer.
- Physics
Rubidium atoms used to record coldest temperature — ever
A swarm of rubidium atoms has been cooled to about 50 trillionths of a kelvin, making it the coldest substance ever measured.
- Astronomy
Source of puzzling cosmic signals found — in the kitchen
One type of radio burst has a pretty mundane origin: prematurely opened microwave ovens.
- Planetary Science
A modest Plutonian proposal
Flagstaff, Echidna, Spock. Naming conventions for the landscapes of Pluto and its moons are proposed ahead of the arrival of the New Horizons probe.
- Astronomy
The art of astronomy
Astronomer Zoltan Levay uses the Hubble Space Telescope to create stunning images of cosmic landscapes.
- Health & Medicine
Early birth control study probed effectiveness of pill
A 1960s study probed birth control pills’ effectiveness for women. Researchers are still trying to make a pill for men.
- Environment
Tampons: Not just for feminine hygiene
Tampons soaked in polluted water glow under UV light, revealing detergent-filled wastewater in rivers.
- Astronomy
‘Supernova sweeping’ cleans up a galaxy’s gas
Supernovas might sweep the remaining gas out of a galaxy after a supermassive black hole triggers the end of star formation.
- Astronomy
Enigmatic 17th century nova wasn’t a nova at all
A nova observed in 1670 was actually two stars colliding, new evidence suggests.
- Animals
Piggyback rides and other crocodile fun
We don’t know the playful side of crocodiles perhaps only because we haven’t looked.
