Physics
‘Time Travel’ tours a fascinating fiction
James Gleick’s entertaining book Time Travel focuses more on fantasy than real science.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
Evidence falls into place for once and future supercontinents
Shifting landmasses have repeatedly reshaped Earth’s surface. Researchers piecing together the past are now picturing a new supercontinent, due in 250 million years.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Life
Shimmering soap bubbles have a dark side
Merging dark spots are indicators that a bubble is about to burst.
Notebook
Planetary Science
Moon’s lava tubes could be colossal
Lava tubes inside the moon could remain structurally sound up to 5 kilometers across and offer prime real estate for lunar colonists.
Features
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Better batteries charge forward
Next-generation batteries must hold more energy for longer periods at low cost. Several contenders may achieve some of these elusive goals.
More Stories from the January 21, 2017 issue
- Quantum Physics
Cosmic test confirms quantum weirdness
Physicists used starlight to perform a cosmic Bell test.
- Life
Cell distress chemicals help embryos quickly heal
The chemicals trigger drawstring-like structures that help close wounds.
- Tech
Zippy new jumping bot catches air again and again
Leaping robot can bounce from floor to wall, parkour-style, and, like a bush baby, uses a “super-crouch” to get extra oomph out of jumps.
- Science & Society
Virtual reality raises real risk of motion sickness
New research confirms anecdotal reports that virtual reality headsets can cause motion sickness, and may affect women more than men.
- Neuroscience
Brain waves show promise against Alzheimer’s protein in mice
Flickers of light induce brain waves that wash amyloid-beta out of the brain, mouse study suggests.
- Life
Having an extra chromosome has a surprising effect on cancer
Extra chromosome copies may protect against, not cause, cancer.
- Earth
Third kind of quasicrystal found in Russian meteorite
A new quasicrystal found inside a Russian meteorite is the first ever found in nature before being synthesized in the lab.
- Life
Cells avoiding suicide may play role in spread of cancer
A newly discovered process can pull cells back from the brink of death.
- Astronomy
Gaggle of stars get official names
The names of 227 stars have been formally recognized by the International Astronomical Union.
- Climate
Glacier melting’s link to climate change confirmed
The decades-long melting of glaciers is categorical evidence of climate change, a new study affirms.
- Earth
Fossil microbes show how some life bounced back after dino-killing impact
Pioneering microbes colonized the waters above the Chicxulub crater within hundreds of years following the impact, new research shows.
- Earth
Earth’s mantle is cooling faster than expected
The thinning of newly formed oceanic crust suggests that Earth’s mantle is cooling much faster than previously thought.
- Health & Medicine
Birth defects occur in 1 in 10 pregnancies with first trimester Zika infection
About 6 percent of U.S. women infected with Zika virus have infants or fetuses with birth defects, according to preliminary CDC results. For women infected in the first trimester, the number is even higher: nearly 11 percent.
- Planetary Science
Dawn spacecraft maps water beneath the surface of Ceres
Water ice sits just beneath the surface and within some permanently shadowed craters of the dwarf planet Ceres.
- Genetics
Proteins that reprogram cells can turn back mice’s aging clock
Proteins that reprogram adult cells to an embryonic-like state can rejuvenate prematurely aging mice.
- Tech
Cells snack on nanowires
Human cells eat silicon nanowires in a process called phagocytosis. Nanowire-infused cells could be a step towards biological electronic devices.
- Anthropology
New footprint finds suggest range of body sizes for Lucy’s species
Tracks discovered in Tanzania appear to have belonged to the tallest known Australopithecus afarensis individual, but stature estimates can be tricky.
- Physics
Antimatter hydrogen passes symmetry test
Antihydrogen atoms behave similarly to normal hydrogen atoms.
- Earth
Data show no sign of methane boost from thawing permafrost
Rapid Arctic warming has increased emissions of carbon dioxide, but not methane, from northern Alaska tundra.
- Math
Hidden Figures highlights three black women who were vital to the U.S. space program
"Hidden Figures" tells the untold story of the "human computers" who were essential to the launch of the U.S. space program.
- Archaeology
Ancient Egyptian pot burials were not just for the poor
In ancient Egypt, using pots for burial containers was a symbolic choice, not a last resort, archaeologists say.
- Astronomy
Saturn’s 10th moon was the first satellite discovered in the modern space age
Fifty years ago, astronomers knew of 10 moons orbiting Saturn. Since then they’ve catalogued a diverse set of 62 satellites, with the help of the Cassini spacecraft.
- Animals
‘Furry Logic’ showcases how animals exploit physics
"Furry Logic" explores how animals rely on the laws of physics in pursuit of food, sex and survival.
- Planetary Science
First signs of boron on Mars hint at past groundwater, habitability
The Curiosity rover has found the first signs of boron on Mars, which could hint at past habitable groundwater.
- Chemistry
Names for four new elements get seal of approval
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry has approved the proposed names for the four elements added to the periodic table in December 2015.
- Health & Medicine
Microcephaly cases surge in Colombia following rise in Zika infections
More than 400 cases of microcephaly have been reported in Colombia this year, months after Zika virus infections peaked in the country.
- Life
Zika induces brain cell die-off
Cell biologists are learning more about how the Zika virus disrupts brain cells to cause microcephaly.
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