Climate
What’s to blame for Canada’s wildfires?
The inferno that sent toxic smoke billowing toward the United States won't be the last. Officials are now battling both the wildfires and misinformation.
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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
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- Physics
Pickles glow when you plug them in. Science explains why
A scientist, a jar of pickles and a power strip walk into a room. The punchline involves physics, glowing condiments and a scientific party trick.
- Microbes
This microbe turns into a cannibalistic ‘Hulk’
Euplotes gigatrox’s shape-shifting may reveal how early life learned to act in surprisingly complex ways.
- Animals
Sea cucumbers harbor ‘zombie’ tissues that won’t die
Detached tissues from the sea cucumber's tube feet and feeding tentacles survived for more than three years, a find that could shape the study of aging.
- Climate
A ‘Super El Niño’ may be on the way. What does that mean?
Past super El Niños have brought bad flooding, deadly fires and disease outbreaks. Climate experts already expect “shockingly high” temps this winter.
- Math
AI cracked an Erdős math problem. Now experts want guardrails
The result is correct but challenges core norms of mathematics: checking proofs, crediting ideas and keeping research open to everyone.
- Math
Here’s how to make an origami torus with the fewest folds possible
A mathematician found the most efficient way to fold paper into a doughnutlike shape.
- Space
Solar flares may show predictable warning signs hours before erupting
Scientists spotted patterns hours before a major solar flare, a discovery that could help forecast dangerous eruptions.
- Oceans
The outlook for a climate-regulating ocean current is…not good
An ocean current called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation will weaken by 50 percent by 2100. The question is what to do about it.
- Animals
Crabs’ sideways walk may have evolved just once
A study of 50 crab species in Japan traces the iconic sideways walk to a single ancestor, suggesting the trait drove the group's remarkable diversity.
