Physics
‘Fundamentals’ shows how reality is built from a few basic ingredients
In ‘Fundamentals,’ physics Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek shares essential lessons from physics.
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Cover Story
Chemists are reimagining recycling to keep plastics out of landfills
Recycling plastics is really hard, and usually creates low-quality materials that aren’t good for much. Chemists are trying to change that.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Physics
Explore every gravitational wave event spotted so far
This interactive visualization reveals the diversity of smashups that generate gravitational waves.
Notebook
Plants
Rats with poisonous hairdos live surprisingly sociable private lives
Deadly, swaggering rodents purr and snuggle when they’re with mates and young.
Features
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‘Deaths of despair’ are rising. It’s time to define despair
A sense of defeat, not mental ailments, may be derailing the lives of less-educated people in the United States.
More Stories from the January 30, 2021 issue
- Climate
Ocean acidification may make some species glow brighter
Ocean organisms use bioluminescence for hunting, defense and more. A new analysis shows that declines in water pH might change who glows and how much.
- Animals
50 years ago, scientists made the case for a landlubbing Brontosaurus
In 1971, a scientist argued for a landbound Brontosaurus instead of a swampy swimmer. Recent evidence comes from studies of its ancient environment.
- Animals
Clearing land to feed a growing human population will threaten thousands of species
Changing where, how and what food is grown could largely avoid biodiversity losses, scientists say.
- Archaeology
Ivory from a 16th century shipwreck reveals new details about African elephants
Ivory from the sunken Portuguese trading ship Bom Jesus contains clues about elephant herds that once roamed Africa, and the people who hunted them.
- Earth
Reawakened Yellowstone geyser isn’t a sign of imminent explosion
The 2018 reactivation of Yellowstone’s Steamboat Geyser isn’t a portent of dangerous volcanic or hydrothermal eruptions, scientists say.
- Animals
These spiders may sew leaves into fake shelters to lure frogs to their doom
Madagascar’s huntsman spiders use silk to turn two leaves into a cool hollow. Such microhabitats may appeal to the spiders’ prey, a study suggests.
- Animals
These Arctic squirrels recycle bits of their own bodies to survive winter
Arctic squirrels not only slow their metabolism while hibernating, but also harvest crucial substances from their muscles.
- Space
How future spacecraft might handle tricky landings on Venus or Europa
Scientists are getting inventive with ways to touch down on these worlds, where landers will face obstacles not seen elsewhere in the solar system.
- Climate
What the pandemic can teach us about ways to reduce air pollution
Data collected during COVID-19 shutdowns may help tease out the complicated chemistry that brews poor air quality.
- Health & Medicine
Severe allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines are extremely rare, CDC says
Out of the first 1.9 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine given in the United States, there were 21 reported cases of anaphylaxis, a CDC study finds.
- Genetics
Some identical twins don’t have identical DNA
Mutations arising early in development may account for genetic differences between identical twins.
- Anthropology
Ice Age hunters’ leftovers may have fueled dog domestication
Ancient people tamed wolves by feeding them surplus game, researchers suggest.
- Chemistry
This weird chemical bond acts like a mash-up of hydrogen and covalent bonds
Chemistry students are taught that hydrogen bonds and covalent bonds are distinct, but a new study shows they exist on a continuum.
