Science Ticker
A roundup of research and breaking news
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
Just when you thought snails couldn’t get any smaller…
Snails may not be speedy, but itty-bitty snail shells found in Borneo are breaking a size record at a breakneck pace.
- Astronomy
‘Halloween fireballs’ may light up the night sky
Trick-or-treaters might get treated to a meteor swarm for Halloween.
- Planetary Science
Probes unveil three hidden blemishes on moon’s face
Gravity measurements collected by NASA’s GRAIL spacecraft reveal a clearer picture of the moon’s craters, including three previously unseen lunar basins.
- Anthropology
Synchronized dancing boosts pain tolerance
Dancing in sync to high energy routines increase pain tolerance and helps people bond as a group, a study suggests.
- Physics
Acoustic tractor beam reels in objects like the Death Star
A platform tiled with ultrasound-emitting speakers can get small objects to hover, spin, move around and get reeled in as if pulled by a tractor beam.
- Life
Cats versus viruses: Arms race goes back millennia
A special protein has been protecting cats from feline AIDS for at least 60,000 years, genetic analysis suggests.
- Planetary Science
Cassini preps to shower in Enceladus’ ocean
The Cassini spacecraft is gearing up for one last plunge through the water geysers on Enceladus, an icy moon of Saturn.
- Planetary Science
Asteroid set for Halloween flyby
Large asteroid will pass Earth just beyond the moon’s orbit on Halloween.
- Climate
Hurricane Patricia’s howling winds smash records
Hurricane Patricia’s winds are now the fastest ever recorded in a tropical cyclone, making it the strongest hurricane on record in the Western Hemisphere.
- Animals
Howler monkeys sacrifice sperm for deeper roars
In howler monkeys, expanded vocal tracts make for deeper-voiced males with smaller testes, researchers find.
- Astronomy
White dwarf upsets planetary system, consumes evidence
Rocky planets are disintegrating around a white dwarf, the core of a dead star.
- Quantum Physics
Confirmed: Quantum mechanics is weird
The first demonstration of a loophole-free Bell test validates the weirdness of quantum physics.
