Uncategorized
- Astronomy
Quiet maximum
By almost any measure, this solar maximum has been pathetic. No more than 67 sunspots have appeared in a month so far; at the last peak, in 2000, that number was above 120.
-
- Animals
Amphibian killer forces immune-cell suicides
Fungal menace to frogs and their kin shuts down key parts of the animals’ defenses.
- Neuroscience
Sleep allows brain to wash out junk
Discovery of fluids flowing in mice while they slumber could lead to better treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.
- Anthropology
Fossil skull points to single root for human evolution
New find suggests that humankind’s origins trace to an ancient species that spread from Africa to Asia.
- Neuroscience
NFL players’ brains take a hit
Brain scans reveal hidden abnormalities in retired football pros.
- Health & Medicine
Hopes raised for Ebola treatment
Most monkeys given dual therapy survive infection with lethal virus.
- Particle Physics
Nobel’s sharp cuts
Gerald Guralnik was home when he learned online that physicists François Englert and Peter Higgs had won the Nobel Prize in physics for formulating the same theory he had proposed nearly 50 years ago.
- Astronomy
Galaxy’s gas molecules reveal its structure
Astronomers have tracked carbon monoxide flowing both toward and away from NGC 1433’s central supermassive black hole.
- Animals
Lurking males lead to hard-to-fertilize mouse eggs
Mixed-sex society raises resistance to sperm in what may be a long-running arms race between the sexes over fertilization.
- Physics
New limit placed on physics constant
An analysis of how much the fine structure constant varies with the density of matter may help scientists determine whether the parameter changes with time.
- Life
Scorpion genome decoded
An analysis of an arachnid’s DNA reveals how the animal survives its own venom.
