Allison Gasparini

All Stories by Allison Gasparini

  1. Space

    A cyclone has been spotted swirling over Uranus’ north pole for the first time

    Voyager 2 hinted at a cyclone at Uranus’ south pole. Now Earth-based observations give the first direct evidence of a storm at the ice giant’s north pole.

  2. Space

    Salty water may have flowed near Mars’ equator as recently as 400,000 years ago

    Crusts and cracks on Martian sand dunes are a sign salty water flowed near the equator thousands, not billions, of years ago — and may still exist.

  3. Space

    Rocky planets might have been able to form in the early universe

    The James Webb telescope spied planet-building material around young stars in a nearby galaxy whose chemical makeup matches that of the early cosmos.

  4. Space

    A crucial building block of life exists on the asteroid Ryugu

    A sample from Ryugu collected by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft contains uracil, a component of RNA, which is found in all living cells.

  5. Tech

    A trick inspired by Hansel and Gretel could help rovers explore other worlds

    Taking a cue from a classic fairy tale, scientists propose a way for rovers to send back data from treacherous terrain.

  6. Humans

    A new biomaterial heals heart attack damage in animals. Humans could be next

    If used right after a heart attack, this intravenously delivered biomaterial can preserve cardiac function. It could also treat traumatic brain injury.

  7. Health & Medicine

    How much water should you drink a day? It depends on several factors.

    A study of more than 5,000 people in 23 countries finds that individual water need varies widely depending on physical and environmental factors.

  8. Humans

    The world population has now reached 8 billion

    In a first, the global population surpassed this milestone on November 15, according to a projection from the United Nations.

  9. Animals

    A clam presumed extinct for 40,000 years has been found alive

    The reappearance of living Cymatioa cooki clams places it among a group of back-from-the-dead creatures dubbed the Lazarus taxa.

  10. Life

    This ancient worm might be an important evolutionary missing link

    A roughly 520-million-year-old fossil may be the common ancestor of a diverse collection of marine invertebrates.

  11. Humans

    Prehistoric people may have used light from fires to create dynamic art

    When brought near flickering flames, prehistoric stone engravings of animals seem to move, experiments with replicas and virtual reality show.

  12. Astronomy

    A newly discovered planet renews debate about how some giant worlds form

    An implosion of gas may have given birth to this young exoplanet, which orbits too far from its star to have been built up bit by bit, researchers say.