Uncategorized
- Life
Laser light made inside cells
Microscopic beads and oil droplets become lasers when implanted into cells.
- Physics
Revamping the metric measure of mass
The units of the metric system are on track for a 2018 makeover.
- Paleontology
Fossils illustrate evolution of life
Paleontologist Donald Prothero takes readers through the evolution of life on Earth from the earliest oozes of goo to our recent relative Lucy.
- Planetary Science
Pluto’s icy landscape comes into view
The New Horizons flyby reveals varied terrain and evidence of active geology on Pluto.
- Science & Society
Autism’s journey from shadows to light
Science writer Steve Silberman considers autism in the modern era of neurodiversity - a movement to respect neurological differences as natural human variation - framing the relatively progressive autistic experience of today against the the conditions oppressed past.
- Planetary Science
Ice flows, haze offer more clues to Pluto’s geology
New Horizons’ latest data reveal more hints about Pluto’s shrinking atmosphere and possible underground ocean.
- Animals
Stinkbugs are color conscious when it comes to their eggs
P. maculiventris moms control the color of their eggs, seemingly pairing darker eggs with darker surfaces.
- Animals
Social pecking order gives roosters something to crow about
Small groups of laboratory roosters keep to the rankings for orderly morning crows.
- Space
Best cosmic ‘cradles of life’ may be elliptical in shape
Giant elliptical galaxies might harbor up to 10,000 times as many Earthlike planets than galaxies like the Milky Way.
- Materials Science
Stretchy fiber lets electrons flow
Folded layers of carbon nanotubes allow an elastic fiber to conduct electrical current when stretched.
- Astronomy
Kepler telescope identifies new ‘habitable zone’ planet
A new analysis of data from NASA’s Kepler mission has uncovered a planet orbiting a sunlike star that could be Earth’s “cousin.”
- Planetary Science
First craters on Mars spotted 50 years ago
Fifty years ago, Mariner 4 revealed that the Red Planet was peppered with craters. Now we know pockmarks are common on many other planets and moons, too.
