Vol. 195 No. 1
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More Stories from the January 19, 2019 issue

  1. Animals

    50 years ago, scientists studied orcas in the wild for the first time

    The study of killer whales has come a long way since the capture of seven in 1968 allowed scientists to study the animals in their habitat.

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  2. Life

    Dads, not just moms, can pass along mitochondrial DNA

    Data from three families suggest that in rare cases children can inherit mitochondria from their fathers.

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  3. Life

    How some sap-sucking insects fling their pee

    Sharpshooters hurl their pee with structure called a stylus, which sends droplets flying at 20 times the acceleration of Earth’s gravity.

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  4. Physics

    Scientists’ collection of gravitational waves just got a lot bigger

    The biggest black hole merger yet seen created one set of the spacetime ripples.

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  5. Particle Physics

    A controversial sighting of dark matter is looking even shakier

    Two dark matter experiments disagree despite using the same type of detector material.

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  6. Genetics

    A 5,000-year-old mass grave harbors the oldest plague bacteria ever found

    DNA from an ancient strain of the plague-causing bacterium could help uncover the origins of the deadly disease.

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  7. Materials Science

    Magnets make a new soft metamaterial stiffen up in a flash

    Scientists can dial the stiffness of a bizarre new type of synthetic material up or down using magnets.

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  8. Life

    Getting goose bumps could boost hair growth

    The same nerves and muscles that create goose bumps may make hair grow.

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  9. Planetary Science

    NASA’s OSIRIS-REx finds signs of water on the asteroid Bennu

    NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft found signs of water and lots of boulders on the asteroid Bennu.

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  10. Climate

    The list of extreme weather caused by human-driven climate change grows

    The tally of extreme weather events linked to climate change continues to grow, with new studies outlining links to more than a dozen events in 2017.

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  11. Life

    Biologists are one step closer to creating snake venom in the lab

    Milking snakes for venom may soon no longer be needed to make antidotes for bites.

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  12. Humans

    ‘Little Foot’ skeleton analysis reignites debate over the hominid’s species

    Long-awaited analyses of the Little Foot skeleton have researchers disagreeing over resurrecting a defunct species name.

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  13. Animals

    Nearly 200 Great Barrier Reef coral species also live in the deep sea

    There are more coral species lurking in the deep ocean that previously thought. That could be good news for their shallow water counterparts.

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  14. Health & Medicine

    Babies born in opioid withdrawal have unusually small heads

    Infants born dependent on opioids had heads that were smaller than babies whose moms didn’t use the drugs during pregnancy.

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  15. Plants

    Hybrid rice engineered with CRISPR can clone its seeds

    New research has created self-cloning hybrid rice, raising hopes of higher food production.

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  16. Astronomy

    The Parker Solar Probe takes its first up-close look at the sun

    NASA’s Parker Solar Probe survived its first encounter with the sun and is sending data back to Earth.

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  17. Neuroscience

    Big data reveals hints of how, when and where mental disorders start

    The first wave of data from the PsychENCODE project holds new clues to how and when psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia emerge.

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  18. Health & Medicine

    Tumor ‘organoids’ may speed cancer treatment

    Growing mini tumors in a lab dish, researchers can screen compounds to find promising combinations for treating rare cancers.

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