Science Ticker
A roundup of research and breaking news
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
Wasps may turn ladybugs into zombies with viral weapons
Parasitic wasps may use a neurological virus to make ladybugs their minions, a study posits.
- Physics
On the biomechanics of popcorn
When popcorn pops, the biomechanics resemble both an explosion and a spring.
- Astronomy
White dwarf pair will trigger a supernova — in 700 million years
Astronomers found two white dwarfs with enough mass to explode as a supernova.
- Environment
Funding canceled for clean coal plant
The Department of Energy has scrapped funding for FutureGen, a project to use new technology to sequester carbon dioxide emissions from a coal power plant.
- Paleontology
Ancient wolf skulls challenge dog domestication timeline
A 3-D analysis of two ancient canine skulls from Russia and Belgium suggests the fossils were of wolves, not dogs.
- Animals
Tropical wasps memorize friendly faces
A social wasp species uses sight and smell to keep intruders from hijacking their nests.
- Planetary Science
New Horizons snaps new photos of Pluto
Pluto and its moon Charon appear as two smudges in the first pictures taken since New Horizons came out of hibernation.
- Health & Medicine
Handheld device turns smartphone into diagnostic tool
A compact device can process a blood sample to diagnose HIV or syphilis when attached to a smartphone.
- Plants
Isaac Newton’s theory of how water defies gravity in plants
A passage in one of Isaac Newton’s journals reveals that he may have theorized basic plant hydrodynamics long before botanists.
- Animals
Migrating ibises take turns leading the flying V
During migration, ibises flying in a V formation cooperate and take turns flying in wake to save energy, a new study suggests.
- Particle Physics
New particle may be made of four quarks
A newly discovered particle may be comprised of four quarks, a new study posits.
- Environment
Tuna mercury rising
From 1998 to 2008, mercury levels in Hawaiian Yellowfin tuna have increased by 3.8 percent per year, researchers suggest.
