Uncategorized
- Paleontology
Science News’ favorite fossils of 2019
Fossil discoveries reported this year included Cambrian creatures, ancient bone cancer and a peek at life’s recovery after the dinosaur die-off.
- Space
How 2019’s space missions explored distant worlds
Planets and asteroids and Arrokoth, oh my. Space probes had a busy year.
- Health & Medicine
In a first, an Ebola vaccine wins approval from the FDA
U.S. approval of Ervebo, already deployed in an ongoing Ebola outbreak in Congo, bolsters efforts to prepare for future potential spread of the disease.
- Microbes
Airplane sewage may be helping antibiotic-resistant microbes spread
Along with drug-resistant E. coli, airplane sewage contains a diverse set of genes that let bacteria evade antibiotics.
- Space
50 years ago, scientists didn’t know where heavy elements came from
Five decades ago, scientists suspected ordinary supernovas created heavy elements. Now we know they don’t, but merging neutron stars do.
- Humans
In some languages, love and pity get rolled into the same word
By studying semantic ties among words used to describe feelings in over 2,000 languages, researchers turned up cultural differences.
- Life
Ocean acidification could degrade sharks’ tough skin
Nine weeks of exposure to acidic seawater corroded the toothlike denticles that make up a puffadder shyshark’s skin, a small experiment found.
- Science & Society
Installing democracies may not work without prior cultural shifts
Experts often argue over what comes first: democratic institutions or a culture that values democratic norms. A new study supports the culture camp.
- Anthropology
Homo erectus’ last known appearance dates to roughly 117,000 years ago
New evidence helps resolve a debate over how long ago Home erectus survived in what’s now Indonesia, a study finds.
- Space
A new mission to investigate exoplanets has rocketed into space
The European Space Agency’s CHEOPS satellite has launched on a mission to gather intel on previously discovered planets outside of the solar system.
- Science & Society
These science claims from 2019 could be big deals — if true
Some of this year’s most tantalizing scientific finds aren’t yet ready for a “best of” list.
- Life
Koalas aren’t primates, but they move like monkeys in trees
With double thumbs and a monkey-sized body, an iconic marsupial climbs like a primate.
