All Stories by Maria Temming
- Microbes
50 years ago, scientists were on the trail of a brain-eating amoeba
In 1970, scientists were studying a brain-eating amoeba that had been implicated in a newfound disease. Today, infections by the parasite are still poorly understood.
- Tech
A Game Boy look-alike runs on solar panels and button smashes
A new prototype console that looks and feels like the original Game Boy harnesses user-generated energy to run without batteries.
- Space
Dark matter clumps in galaxy clusters bend light surprisingly well
Cosmologists have found one more way to be confused by dark matter.
- Animals
Sea butterflies’ shells determine how the snails swim
New aquarium videos show that sea butterflies of various shapes and sizes flutter through water differently.
- Physics
Toy boats float upside down underneath a layer of levitated liquid
The upward force of buoyancy keeps objects afloat even in unusual conditions.
- Earth
Carbon dioxide from Earth’s mantle may trigger some Italian earthquakes
In the central Apennines of Italy, spikes in natural carbon dioxide emissions line up with the biggest earthquakes.
- Paleontology
This ichthyosaur died after devouring a creature nearly as long as itself
Ichthyosaurs, marine reptiles generally thought to munch on soft prey like cephalopods, may have chowed down on fellow big marine reptiles, too.
- Earth
50 years ago, scientists clocked the speed of Antarctic ice
Today’s instruments offer a more precise view, and reveal the effects of climate change.
- Science & Society
Ethan Hawke stars in ‘Tesla,’ a quirky biopic about the iconic inventor
The new movie ‘Tesla’ follows the rise and fall of Nikola Tesla, whose early inventions panned out far better than later projects.
- Astronomy
Hubble watched a lunar eclipse to see Earth from an alien’s perspective
Hubble observed sunlight filtering through Earth’s atmosphere during a lunar eclipse to see what a habitable exoplanet’s atmosphere might look like.
- Space
Paradoxically, white dwarf stars shrink as they gain mass
Observations of thousands of white dwarf stars have confirmed a decades-old theory about the relationship between their masses and sizes.
- Earth
Predictions for the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season just got worse
Wind patterns and abnormally warm seawater are conspiring to create especially hurricane-friendly conditions in the Atlantic.
