Science Ticker
A roundup of research and breaking news
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
NASA moves ahead with a mission to Europa
A NASA mission slated for the 2020s to Jupiter’s icy moon will try to figure out if the ocean there is habitable.
- Earth
Dinosaurs may not have seen the Grand Canyon after all
New geologic comparisons peg the Grand Canyon’s inception well after dinosaurs went extinct.
- Animals
Unpredictable egg scramble throws off parasitic parents
Eggs of some species of warbler and weaver birds appear to have individual signatures, which can help distinguish them from the eggs of parasitic cuckoos.
- Astronomy
Mars-sized exoplanet is smallest to have its mass measured
The smallest exoplanet to be weighed is a hot, rocky cousin of the Red Planet.
- Neuroscience
Homunculus reimagined
A new study pinpoints the part of the brain that controls the neck muscles, tweaking the motor homunculus.
- Microbes
Spore-powered engines zoom ahead
Engines that run on the dehydration of bacterial spores can power a tiny car and an LED.
- Health & Medicine
Antibiotics an alternative to surgery for appendicitis
Doctors could abandon routine surgery for uncomplicated cases of appendicitis, a new study suggests.
- Genetics
Pneumonia bacteria attacks lungs with toxic weaponry
Some strains of the bacteria that causes pneumonia splash lung cells with hydrogen peroxide to mess with DNA and kill cells, a new study suggests.
- Planetary Science
Comet lander Philae phones home
The European Space Agency has received signals for its comet lander Philae, which touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November and has been in hibernation since.
- Planetary Science
WISE satellite measures girth of Saturn’s widest ring
Saturn’s dark, outermost ring is about 270 times as wide as the planet itself.
- Tech
Humanoid robot tops other bots in defense agency’s challenge
A humanoid robot named DRC-HUBO won first place in DARPA’s Robotic Challenge, held June 5-6.
- Life
MERS virus didn’t morph in its move to South Korea
No obvious changes in the MERS virus account for its rapid spread in South Korea.
