Science & Society
‘Death: A Graveside Companion’ offers an outlet for your morbid curiosity
A coffee-table book explores how humans have tried to understand death through the ages.
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Cover Story
When it’s playtime, many kids prefer reality over fantasy
Given a choice between fantasy play and doing the things that adults do, children prefer reality-based tasks, studies suggest.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Life
Here’s how cells rapidly stuff two meters of DNA into microscopic capsules
Scientists have figured out how cells quickly pack up their chromosomes before a cell divides.
Notebook
Animals
18 new species of pelican spiders discovered
A researcher used old and new specimens to discover 18 species of pelican spiders from Madagascar.
Features
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Skyrmions open a door to next-level data storage
Skyrmions are tiny magnetic swirls that are hard to undo and may be perfect for miniaturizing electronics.
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Ancient kids’ toys have been hiding in the archaeological record
Some unusual finds from thousands of years ago are actually toys and children’s attempts at mimicking adult craftwork.
More Stories from the February 17, 2018 issue
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ClimateRising CO2 in lakes could keep water fleas from raising their spiky defenses
Rising CO2 in freshwaters may change how predators and prey interact in lakes.
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AnthropologyDNA solves the mystery of how these mummies were related
Two ancient Egyptian mummies known as the Two Brothers had the same mother, but different dads.
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Health & MedicineEvidence grows that normal childbirth takes longer than we thought
Another study finds that labor lasts longer than is traditionally taught — an insight that could mean fewer unnecessary cesarean deliveries.
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AnthropologyHunter-gatherer lifestyle could help explain superior ability to ID smells
Hunter-gatherers in the forests of the Malay Peninsula prove more adept at naming smells than their rice-farming neighbors, possibly because of their foraging culture.
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MicrobesThe secret to icky, sticky bacterial biofilms lies in the microbes’ cellulose
Bacteria use a modified form of cellulose to form sticky networks that can coat various surfaces.
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LifeLight pollution can prolong the risk of sparrows passing along West Nile virus
Nighttime lighting prolongs time that birds can pass along virus to mosquitoes that bite people.
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NeuroscienceCilia in the brain may be busier than previously thought
A hairlike appendage sticking out of brain cells may be much more important in the brain than scientists realized.
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Health & MedicineNew twist on a flu vaccine revs up the body’s army of virus killers
A new approach to flu vaccine development makes influenza virus extra sensitive to a powerful antiviral system.
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Planetary ScienceMassive dust storms are robbing Mars of its water
Mars was once lush with water. A new analysis of Martian climate data shows a mechanism that might have helped dehydrate the planet.
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AstronomyMysterious high-energy particles could come from black hole jets
Three types of high-energy cosmic particles could all have the same source: black holes in galaxy clusters.
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AstronomyThe X-ray glow keeps growing after the recent neutron star collision
X-rays from a neutron star collision have been getting brighter, and scientists are debating why.
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EarthLife may have been possible in Earth’s earliest, most hellish eon
Heat from asteroid bombardment during Earth’s earliest eon wasn’t too intense for life to exist on the planet, a new study suggests.
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GeneticsBaby macaques are the first primates to be cloned like Dolly the Sheep
Scientists have cloned two baby macaque monkeys with the same technique used to clone Dolly. The research could help advance the cloning of other species.
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TechLasers trace a new way to create hovering hologram-like images
Hovering 3-D images pave the way for futuristic displays that could be used for education or entertainment.
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AnimalsHere’s why so many saiga antelope mysteriously died in 2015
Higher than normal temperatures turned normally benign bacteria lethal, killing hundreds of thousands of the saiga antelopes.
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Physics50 years on, nuclear fusion still hasn’t delivered clean energy
In 1968, scientists predicted that the world would soon use nuclear fusion as an energy source.
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Artificial Intelligence‘Machines That Think’ predicts the future of artificial intelligence
In a new book, an artificial intelligence expert explores AI’s past, present and future.