Science & Society
This history book offers excellent images but skimps on modern science
For an accessible account of mostly pre-20th century science, check out The Oxford Illustrated History of Science.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
How earthquake scientists eavesdrop on North Korea’s nuclear blasts
Researchers monitor the power and location of underground nuclear weapons testing by North Korea.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Astronomy
Here are the paths of the next 15 total solar eclipses
From 2017 to 2040, there will be 15 total solar eclipses. Here's a map of where to see them.
Notebook
Physics
Here’s why your wheelie suitcase wobbles
Physicists explain why roller suitcases rock back and forth as you dash through the terminal.
Features
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Perovskites power up the solar industry
Perovskites are the latest hot materials in solar energy production.
More Stories from the August 5, 2017 issue
- Health & Medicine
New heart attack treatment uses photosynthetic bacteria to make oxygen
Photosynthetic bacteria can produce oxygen to keep rat heart muscles healthy after a heart attack.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum satellite shatters entanglement record
A satellite sent entangled particles to two Chinese cities 1,200 kilometers apart.
- Paleontology
Ancient attack marks show ocean predators got scarier
Killer snails and other ocean predators that drill through shells have grown bigger over evolutionary time.
- Psychology
African farmers’ kids conquer the marshmallow test
Nso farmers in Cameroon groom kids for self-control that Western peers often lack.
- Health & Medicine
Protein in Parkinson’s provokes the immune system
The immune system recognizes parts of a protein linked to Parkinson’s disease as foreign, triggering an autoimmune response.
- Life
Scientists spy on the secret inner life of bacteria
New images reveal the inner workings of bacteria.
- Life
Flight demands may have steered the evolution of bird egg shape
An analysis of nearly 50,000 bird eggs finds a link between a species’ egg shape and flight ability.
- Health & Medicine
Getting a flu ‘shot’ could soon be as easy as sticking on a Band-Aid
Microneedle patches may make home-based vaccination a reality.
- Genetics
Horse version of ‘Who’s your daddy?’ answered
Genetics and horse pedigrees reveal all modern domestic stallions’ sires.
- Climate
Climate change could exacerbate economic inequalities in the U.S.
Counties across the United States won’t all pay the same price for climate change, a new simulation predicts.
- Plants
Petunias spread their scent using pushy proteins
Scent molecules hitch a ride on a particular protein to escape flowers.
- Planetary Science
The moon might have had a heavy metal atmosphere with supersonic winds
Heat from a glowing infant Earth could have vaporized the moon’s metals into an atmosphere as thick as Mars’, a new simulation shows.
- Plants
How to eavesdrop on kelp
Sounds reverberating through a kelp bed can be linked to environmental factors, suggesting a low-key way to monitor undersea communities.
- Plants
Hermaphrodite wildflower has its own battle of the sexes
A new example of sexual conflict shows up in a plant with a troublesome pollinator.
- Particle Physics
Newfound particle relies on its charm(s)
First-of-its-kind subatomic particle is composed of two charm quarks and an up quark.
- Anthropology
Fossil tooth pushes back record of mysterious Neandertal relative
A Denisovan child’s fossil tooth dates to at least 100,000 years ago, researchers say.
- Earth
Delaware-sized iceberg breaks off Antarctic ice shelf
An iceberg about the size of Delaware splintered from the Larsen C ice shelf in one of the largest calving events ever recorded.
- Tech
The incredible shrinking transistor just got smaller
Tiniest transistor, made with carbon nanotubes, suggests computers aren’t done shrinking down.
- Genetics
50 years ago, diabetic mice offered hope for understanding human disease
Mice described in 1967 are still helping researchers understand diabetes.
- Astronomy
‘Making Contact’ chronicles an astronomer’s struggle to find E.T.
For decades, astronomer Jill Tarter led the hunt for extraterrestrial intelligence, as detailed in a new biography.
- Astronomy
Balloons will broadcast the 2017 solar eclipse live from on high
Astrophysicist Angela Des Jardins is coordinating the first-ever livestream of a solar eclipse filmed from balloons.
- Astronomy
Teensy star vies for title of smallest known
A Saturn-sized star is one of the smallest yet discovered.
- Astronomy
Astronomers get glimpse of star 9 billion light-years away
A bright blue star sends its light from two-thirds of the way across the universe, thanks to a chance alignment with a galaxy cluster.
