Science Ticker
A roundup of research and breaking news
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
Saturn may be getting a new moon
An icy object within Saturn's rings may be a new moon in the making.
- Genetics
Modern hunter-gatherers’ guts host distinct microbes
A healthy collection of gut bacteria depends on the environment in which people live and their lifestyle, research shows.
- Health & Medicine
Hepatitis C treatment appears extremely effective
A mix of four medications has provided the most effective way to date to counter the hepatitis C virus in humans.
- Life
How cells keep from popping
The protein SWELL1 stops cells from swelling so much that they burst, a new study shows.
- Earth
Huge space rock rattled Earth 3 billion years ago
An asteroid almost as wide as Rhode Island may have plowed into Earth 3.26 billion years ago, leaving its mark in South Africa’s Barberton greenstone belt.
- Life
Amoebas’ munching may cause diarrheal disease
Amoebas biting and swallowing pieces of human cells may be what causes amebic dysentery, a potentially fatal diarrheal disease in the developing world.
- Quantum Physics
Small step taken for quantum communication
A single atom can change the state of a photon, which may help build quantum networks.
- Tech
Atlantic razor clam inspires robot to dig deeper
A robot digs using the same method as the Atlantic razor clam.
- Astronomy
El Gordo galaxy cluster as hefty as 3 million billion suns
The galaxy cluster El Gordo, which is Spanish for “the fat one," is roughly 43 percent more massive than earlier estimates.
- Health & Medicine
Changes in kids’ genomes linked to chronic stress
In a study of 40 nine-year-old boys, kids from underprivileged backgrounds had telomeres that were 19 percent shorter than those of boys from more privileged environments.
- Physics
Meet Big Bird, highest-energy neutrino ever detected
Big Bird, the neutrino, struck the Antarctic ice with a record 2 million billion electron volts of energy.
- Humans
Father’s obesity linked to autism in children
A father-to-be’s body mass may be a greater risk factor for his child’s development of autism than the body mass of the mother.
