In the Aug. 19 SN: Bulletins from the tick wars, roots of Rwandan genocide, spin-resistant spiders, making mums blue, tardigrade saga continues, HIV antibodies from cows, Maxwell’s demon aces memory test and more.

August 19, 2017

COVER: Alfred Pasieka/Getty RIGHT: K. ARAKAWA AND H. HIGASHIYAMA

Archives

Feature

A look at Rwanda’s genocide helps explain why ordinary people kill their neighbors

New research on the 1994 Rwanda genocide overturns assumptions about why people participate in genocide. A sense of duty, not blind obedience, drives many perpetrators.

1 week ago

Psychology,
Science & Society
Feature

Ticks are here to stay. But scientists are finding ways to outsmart them

Researchers acknowledge that there’s no getting rid of ticks, so they are developing ways to make them less dangerous.

1 week ago

Animals,
Science & Society
News

Half of the Milky Way comes from other galaxies

A galaxy may swipe up to half of its atoms from other galaxies, making the Milky Way mostly extragalactic stuff, new simulations suggest.

3 weeks ago

Astronomy
The Science Life

To combat cholera in Yemen, one scientist goes back to basics

As the cholera epidemic rages on in war-torn Yemen, basic hygiene is the first line of defense.

1 week ago

Science & Society,
Health
News in Brief

Astronomers may have found an exomoon, and Hubble is going to check

A distant object may be the first exomoon detected.

3 weeks ago

Astronomy,
Exoplanets,
Astrobiology
News

The thinnest films of copper look flat, but they aren’t

It turns out that thin films of copper don’t lay flat, a discovery that has implications for computers and handheld electronics.

3 weeks ago

Materials
Mystery Solved

How spiders mastered spin control

Scientists reveal a new twist on the unusual properties of spider silk.

1 week ago

Animals,
Biophysics
The –est

These record-breaking tube worms can survive for centuries

Deep-sea tube worms can live decades longer than their shallow-water counterparts.

1 week ago

Animals
News

Borrowed genes give mums the blues

Scientists have genetically modified chrysanthemums to be “true blue” for the first time.

3 weeks ago

Plants,
Genetics,
Chemistry
Science Visualized

Why midsize animals are the fastest

New analysis delves into the mystery of why medium-sized animals are speedier than bigger ones.

1 week ago

Animals,
Biophysics,
Ecology