Science Ticker
A roundup of research and breaking news
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Here’s the key ingredient that lets a centipede’s bite take down prey
A newly identified “spooky toxin” launches a broad attack but might be eased with a version of a known drug.
- Life
A robotic arm made of DNA moves at dizzying speed
A DNA machine with a high-speed arm could pave the way for nanoscale factories.
- Astronomy
See a 360-degree visualization of the center of the Milky Way
A 360-degree simulation, made with data from several telescopes, shows the center of the Milky Way as seen from the galaxy’s supermassive black hole.
- Math
The largest known prime number has 23 million-plus digits
A newly found prime number smashes the previous record for largest prime.
- Planetary Science
NASA is headed to Earth’s outermost edge
NASA’s upcoming GOLD mission will study the charged border between Earth and space.
- Health & Medicine
U.S. life expectancy drops for the second year in a row
Life expectancy for the U.S. population decreased in 2016, the second year in a row this measure has dropped.
- Astronomy
NASA’s next stop will be Titan or a comet
The finalists for NASA’s next solar system mission aim to send a drone to Saturn’s largest moon or to return samples from a comet.
- Astronomy
The most distant quasar ever spotted hails from the universe’s infancy
The new record-holder for faraway quasars comes from a period of rapid change in the universe.
- Animals
Here’s yet more evidence that the mythical yeti was probably a bear
A more complete genetic analysis amps up the evidence that the legendary creatures known as yetis are actually bears.
- Astronomy
Here is Cassini’s last broad look at the Saturn system
Two days before plunging into Saturn, Cassini took a mosaic image of the gas giant, its rings and its moons.
- Astronomy
The Arecibo Observatory will remain open, NSF says
The iconic Arecibo radio telescope has survived Hurricane Maria and dodged deep funding cuts.
- Physics
Colliding black holes are reported for a fifth time
LIGO spots another merger, this time with less fanfare.
