Notebook
- Animals
New water bear species found in Antarctica
A tiny creature called a tardigrade could shed light on how animals reached the far southern continent.
- Earth
Humans have long history with causing extinctions
Data suggests major die-offs of large animals during the last Ice Age were linked to people, not climate.
- Tech
1960s research paid off in automotive safety
Scientists in 1964 were studying shatterproof glass, which was mandated just a couple of years later.
- Paleontology
Fossils reveal largest airborne bird
Despite its massive size, an extinct bird may have been an efficient glider.
- Psychology
Vocal fry
At the lowest registers of the human voice, a creaky, popping sound known as vocal fry emerges.
- Psychology
Westerners sleep more than people from Eastern nations
Sleep schedules vary from country to country, with social demands like work and study providing the primary incentives to stay up.
- Animals
Ant lions hunt despite sealed lips
Ant lions are ferocious predators, but some of them don’t have a mouth. At least not in the usual sense.
- Astronomy
Star-eating star spotted
The first Thorne-Żytkow Object, a strange pair of stars where one engulfs the other, has been discovered.
- Science & Society
Scientists have long had one of the most admired careers
Excerpt from the July 11, 1964, issue of Science News Letter.
- Health & Medicine
Obesity on the rise globally
Some 2.1 billion people, almost 30 percent of the world’s population, are overweight or obese.
- Life
California mite becomes fastest land animal
Despite being the size of a sesame seed, the Paratarsotomus macropalpis mite can outpace Usain Bolt and even a cheetah in terms of body lengths per second.
- Tech
Self-driving cars are not a thing of the past
Engineers have not given up on self-driving cars. The focus has shifted from a mechanical approach to using batteries and GPS.
