Video
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Animals
A wasp was caught on camera attacking and killing a baby bird
Some wasps scavenge carrion or pluck parasites off birds, but reports of attacks on live birds are rare.
- Humans
Underwater caves once hosted the Americas’ oldest known ochre mines
Now-submerged chambers in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula contain ancient evidence of extensive red ochre removal as early as 12,000 years ago.
- Life
Here’s how flying snakes stay aloft
High-speed cameras show that paradise tree snakes keep from tumbling as they glide through the sky by undulating their bodies.
- Health & Medicine
Why scientists say wearing masks shouldn’t be controversial
New data suggest that cloth masks work to reduce coronavirus cases, though less well than medical masks.
- Animals
Dolphins can learn from peers how to use shells as tools
While most foraging skills are picked up from mom, some bottlenose dolphins seem to look to their peers to learn how to trap prey in shells.
- Animals
New species of scaly, deep-sea worms named after Elvis have been found
A genetic analysis sheds new light on funky scale worms with glittery, scales reminiscent of sequins on the “The King’s” iconic jumpsuits.
- Space
Stunning images of swirling gas and dust may show a planet forming
Infrared images show a spiral of gas and dust around a star 520 light-years away. A smaller, tantalizing twist hints at where a planet is coalescing.
- Neuroscience
Blind people can ‘see’ letters traced directly onto their brains
Arrays of electrodes can trace shapes onto people’s brains, creating bursts of light that people can “see.”
- Tech
Wiggling wheels could keep future rovers trucking in loose lunar soil
A rover that wriggles through soil could climb hills on the moon or Mars that are too steep for a simple wheeled bot.
- Ecosystems
Tapirs may be key to reviving the Amazon. All they need to do is poop
Brazilian ecologist Lucas Paolucci is collecting tapir dung to understand how the piglike mammals may help restore degraded rain forests.
- Life
Why otters ‘juggle’ rocks is still a mystery
Shuffling pebbles really fast looks as if it should boost otters’ dexterity, but a new study didn’t find a link.
- Planetary Science
This is the most comprehensive map of the moon’s geology yet
Cartographers merged Apollo-era maps and modern lunar observations to into a new geologic map of the moon.
