Vol. 203 No. 3
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More Stories from the February 11, 2023 issue

  1. Physics

    Here’s how to make a fiber-optic cable out of air using a laser

    A hollowed-out laser beam heats a tube of air that surrounds cooler air, providing a way to guide light much the way fiber optics do.

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  2. Microbes

    Scientists have found the first known microbes that can eat only viruses

    Lab experiments show that Halteria ciliates can chow down solely on viruses. Whether these “virovores” do the same in the wild is unclear.

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  3. Physics

    Rare ‘dark lightning’ might briefly touch passengers when flying

    Gamma-ray blasts from thunderstorms might occasionally zap passing airplanes, briefly exposing passengers to unsafe levels of radiation.

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  4. Astronomy

    Lots of Tatooine-like planets around binary stars may be habitable

    A new simulation suggests that planets orbiting a pair of stars may be plentiful, and many of those worlds could be suitable for life.

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  5. Astronomy

    The James Webb telescope found ‘Green Pea’ galaxies in the early universe

    The James Webb telescope spotted tiny “green” galaxies that might have helped trigger a dramatic cosmic makeover more than 13 billion years ago.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Too much of this bacteria in the nose may worsen allergy symptoms

    Hay fever sufferers have an overabundance of Streptococcus salivarius. The mucus-loving bacteria boost inflammation, causing an endlessly runny nose.

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  7. Astronomy

    New data show how quickly light pollution is obscuring the night sky

    Tens of thousands of observations from citizen scientists spanning a decade show that the night sky is getting about 10 percent brighter every year.

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  8. Physics

    A powerful laser can redirect lightning strikes

    In a mountaintop experiment, a laser beamed into the sky created a virtual lightning rod that snagged several bolts before they hit the ground.

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  9. Climate

    Cyclones in the Arctic are becoming more intense and frequent

    Over the last 70 years, boreal storms have steadily grown stronger. And climate change may make them worse, threatening both people and sea ice.

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  10. Life

    Birds that dive may be at greater risk of extinction

    For birds, a diving lifestyle seems irreversible, evolutionarily speaking. The inflexibility possibly increases diving birds’ chances of going extinct.

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  11. Animals

    Chicken DNA is replacing the genetics of their ancestral jungle fowl

    Up to half of modern jungle fowl genes have been inherited from domesticated chickens. That could threaten the wild birds’ long-term survival.

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  12. Animals

    A rare rabbit plays an important ecological role by spreading seeds

    Rabbits aren’t thought of as seed dispersers, but the Amami rabbit of Japan has now been recorded munching on a plant’s seeds and pooping them out.

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  13. Archaeology

    Mysterious marks on Ice Age cave art may have been a form of record keeping

    Hunter-gatherers during the Ice Age may have recorded when prey mated and gave birth, suggesting that these people possessed complex cognitive skills

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  14. Oceans

    50 years ago, scientists discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

    In 1973, plastic bottles adrift in the North Pacific alarmed scientists. Fifty years later, more than 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic litter the area.

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