Vol. 196 No. 2
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More Stories from the August 3, 2019 issue

  1. Health & Medicine

    Rotavirus vaccines may lower kids’ chances of getting type 1 diabetes

    Vaccination against rotavirus is associated with a reduced incidence of type 1 diabetes in children, according to an analysis of U.S. insurance data.

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  2. Astronomy

    The highest-energy photons ever seen hail from the Crab Nebula

    An experiment in Tibet spotted photons with over 100 trillion electron volts of energy.

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  3. Archaeology

    Capuchin monkeys’ stone-tool use has evolved over 3,000 years

    A Brazilian archaeological site reveals capuchins’ long history of practical alterations to pounding implements, researchers say.

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  4. Life

    These fungi drug cicadas with psilocybin or amphetamine to make them mate nonstop

    Massospora fungi use a compound found in magic mushrooms or an amphetamine to drive infected cicadas to mate and mate and mate.

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  5. Archaeology

    Peru’s famous Nazca Lines may include drawings of exotic birds

    Pre-Inca people depicted winged fliers from far away in landscape art.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Thick calluses don’t make feet any less sensitive

    Bare feet that develop thick calluses are just as sensitive as shoe-clad feet, a study in Kenya finds.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    In mice, a high-fat diet cuts a ‘brake’ used to control appetite

    A fatty diet changes the behavior of key appetite-regulating cells in a mouse brain.

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  8. Astronomy

    In a first, telescopes tracked a lone fast radio burst to a faraway galaxy

    First-time observations suggest that the cause of one-time fast radio bursts is different from what triggers repeatedly flashing radio bursts.

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  9. Materials Science

    Latest claim of turning hydrogen into a metal may be the most solid yet

    If true, the study would complete a decades-long quest to find the elusive material. But such claims have been made prematurely many times before.

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  10. Climate

    CO2 emissions are on track to take us beyond 1.5 degrees of global warming

    Current and planned infrastructure will exceed the level of emissions that would keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, a new analysis finds.

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  11. Ecosystems

    Why some insect eggs are spherical while others look like hot dogs

    Analyzing a new database of insect eggs’ sizes and shapes suggests that where eggs are laid helps explain some of their diversity of forms.

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  12. Neuroscience

    This brain region may be why some robots send chills down your spine

    Scientists may have traced the source of the “uncanny valley” sensation in the brain.

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  13. Anthropology

    Ancient DNA reveals the origins of the Philistines

    A mysterious Biblical-era population may have fled Bronze Age calamities.

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  14. Health & Medicine

    Rogue immune cells can infiltrate old brains

    Killer T cells get into older brains where they may make mischief, a study in mice and postmortem human brain tissue finds.

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  15. Oceans

    A mysterious coral disease is ravaging Caribbean reefs

    Scientists are racing to learn what’s behind a disease that’s “annihilating” whole coral species in hopes of stopping it.

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  16. Anthropology

    A Greek skull may belong to the oldest human found outside of Africa

    Humans possibly reached southeastern Europe by 210,000 years ago.

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  17. Neuroscience

    Both fish and humans have REM-like sleep

    Sleeping zebrafish have brain and body activity similar to snoozing mammals, suggesting that sleep evolved at least 450 million years ago.

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  18. Health & Medicine

    50 years ago, a drug that crippled a generation found new life as a leprosy treatment

    In 1969, a drug that crippled a generation found new life as a treatment for leprosy.

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  19. Oceans

    The largest seaweed bloom ever detected spanned the Atlantic in 2018

    Nutrient-rich water from the Amazon River may be helping massive seaweed mats to flourish each summer in the Atlantic Ocean.

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