Life
‘The Last Days of the Dinosaurs’ tells a tale of destruction and recovery
A new book takes readers back in time to see how an asteroid strike and the dinosaur extinction shaped life on Earth.
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Cover Story
Muons spill secrets about Earth’s hidden structures
Tracking travel patterns of subatomic particles called muons helps reveal the inner worlds of pyramids, volcanoes and more.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Microbes
New images reveal details of two bacteria’s molecular syringes
It’s unclear exactly how these species use their tiny injectors, but learning how they work could lead to nanodevices that target specific bacteria.
Notebook
Earth
How climbers help scientists vibe with Utah’s famous red rock formations
Researchers teamed up with rock climbers to collect rare data that help them assess the seismic stability of red rock formations in Utah.
Features
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Why taking medications during pregnancy is so confusing
It's hard to know what new drugs are safe when medical research excludes pregnant people.
More Stories from the April 23, 2022 issue
- Paleontology
Spinosaurus’ dense bones fuel debate over whether some dinosaurs could swim
New evidence that Spinosaurus and its kin hunted underwater won't be the last word on whether some dinosaurs were swimmers.
- Astronomy
NASA’s exoplanet count surges past 5,000
With a new batch of 60 confirmed exoplanets, the number of known worlds in our galaxy reaches another milestone.
- Animals
Here’s how boa constrictors squeeze their dinner without suffocating themselves
Carefully controlled breathing allows boa constrictors to pull off their signature move without cutting off their own air supply.
- Astronomy
Here’s the best timeline yet for the Milky Way’s big events
A new study puts more precise dates on when the Milky Way formed its thick disk and collided with a neighboring galaxy.
- Life
How a virus turns caterpillars into zombies doomed to climb to their deaths
By manipulating genes used in vision, a virus sends its host caterpillar on a doomed quest for sunlight, increasing the chances for viral spread.
- Genetics
We finally have a fully complete human genome
Finding the missing 8 percent of the human genome gives researchers a more powerful tool to better understand human health, disease and evolution.
- Paleontology
A new saber-toothed mammal was among the first hypercarnivores
A 42-million-year-old jawbone with slicing teeth and a gap to fit saberlike teeth is pegged to a new species of the mysterious Machaeroidine group.
- Climate
Forests help reduce global warming in more ways than one
Trees are often touted as bulwarks against climate change for their capacity to sequester carbon, but that’s just one part of the story.
- Life
Lost genes may help explain how vampire bats survive on blood alone
The 13 identified genes underpin a range of physiological and behavioral strategies that the bats have evolved.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, scientists were seeking the cause of psoriasis
In the 1970s, scientists found a link between a chemical messenger and psoriasis, a complex inflammatory skin disorder.
- Astronomy
The universe’s background starlight is twice as bright as expected
Images from the New Horizons spacecraft suggest that light from all known galaxies accounts for only half of the cosmos’ visible background glow.
