All Stories
- Animals
The mystery of melting sea stars may finally be solved
A bacterium called Vibrio pectenicida may be melting sea stars along North America’s Pacific coast.
- Health & Medicine
Higher colon cancer rates may reflect earlier screening success
The recommended age for starting colorectal cancer screening is now 45. That shift may explain a rise in early cases.
- Astronomy
Seven superclouds sit just beyond the solar system
The superclouds probably produce star-forming clouds of gas, since most nearby stellar nurseries are located within the giants.
- Health & Medicine
Some probiotics could feed, rather than fend off, infections
Probiotics containing Lactobacillus gasseri Lg-36 prevented C. difficile infections in mice, but L. acidophilus probiotics made infection more likely.
- Astronomy
The Webb space telescope spies its first black holes snacking on stars
These star-shredding black holes sit within dusty galaxies that block many telescopes’ views. That’s not an issue for JWST.
- Health & Medicine
Some U.S. newborns still get HIV despite efforts to screen for it. Here’s why
Routine tests in the third trimester may catch missed cases and flag the need for treatment that reduces a baby‘s risk of getting HIV to near zero.
- Paleontology
A new species of ‘penis worm’ was discovered in the Grand Canyon
A trove of fossils, including a penis worm with a spiked, invertible throat, suggests this spot may have been a cradle of Cambrian evolution.
- Plants
Potatoes have their roots in ancient tomatoes
Knowing potatoes’ origin story could help future-proof the crucial crop against climate threats.
- Climate
A Midwest ‘megaflash’ is the longest lightning on record
A reanalysis of satellite data shows that a 2017 Texas-to-Missouri lightning megaflash stretched 829 kilometers and lasted 7.39 seconds.
- Earth
Why devastating tsunamis didn’t follow the Russia earthquake
Geologists unpack why the magnitude 8.8 temblor — the sixth largest ever recorded — fomented waves that reached Japan and Hawaii but caused little damage.
- Health & Medicine
A molecule produced by gut microbes may help spur heart disease
A leftover from microbes’ meals is linked to early heart disease in people. In mice, it contributed to plaque buildup in the arteries.
- Quantum Physics
A quantum computer goes to space
Quantum computers in space could be useful for communications networks or for testing fundamental physics.
