Uncategorized
- Astronomy
Earth has nothing on this exoplanet’s lightning storms
Lightning storms far more intense than any on Earth might explain radio waves that once came from a planet 124 light-years away.
- Neuroscience
Brain waves in REM sleep help store memories
Mice with disturbed REM sleep show memory trouble.
- Earth
Remnants from Earth’s birth linger 4.5 billion years later
Shaken, not stirred: Tungsten isotopes reveal that mantle convection has left some remnants of ancient Earth untouched for 4.5 billion years.
By Beth Geiger - Life
Gut microbe may challenge textbook on complex cells
Science may finally have found a complex eukaryote cell that has lost all of its mitochondria.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Early work on human growth hormone paved way for synthetic versions
In 1966, researchers reported the complete chemical structure of human growth hormone. Today synthetic growth hormone is used to treat growth hormone deficiency.
- Life
How to trap sperm
Lab-made beads can trick and trap sperm, potentially preventing pregnancy or selecting sperm for fertility treatments.
- Health & Medicine
Healthiest weight just might be ‘overweight’
The body mass index tied to lowest risk of death has risen since the 1970s. It now falls squarely in the “overweight” category.
- Quantum Physics
Physicists smash particle imitators
A new quasiparticle collider smashes together the faux-particles that appear in solid materials.
- Health & Medicine
Mouse studies link Zika virus infection to microcephaly
Three new studies in mice shore up the link between microcephaly and Zika virus infection.
By Meghan Rosen - Health & Medicine
Heartburn drugs can damage cells that line blood vessels
A type of heartburn drugs called proton pump inhibitors may damage cells that line the blood vessels. The results, though controversial, hint at an explanation for PPI’s link to serious side effects, including risk of dementia and heart attack.
By Meghan Rosen - Astronomy
Kepler telescope doubles its count of known exoplanets
NASA’s Kepler space telescope adds 1,284 planets to the roster of worlds known to orbit other stars in our galaxy.
- Planetary Science
Mercury’s stunning landscape mapped
First complete topographic map of Mercury reveals plains, craters and both the highest and lowest points on the planet.