Psychology
‘Fires in the Dark’ illuminates how great healers ease mental suffering
Kay Redfield Jamison’s new book examines approaches used throughout history to restore troubled minds and broken spirits.
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Cover Story
Boys experience depression differently than girls. Here’s why that matters
Boys’ depression often manifests as anger or irritability, but teen mental health surveys tend to ask about hopelessness.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Environment
More than half of the world’s largest lakes are drying up
Satellite data from 1992 to 2020 reveal that 53 percent of the world’s largest freshwater bodies shrank during that period while only 24 percent grew.
Notebook
Plants
A hunt for fungi might bring this orchid back from the brink
Identifying the fungi that feeds the Cooper’s black orchid in the lab may allow researchers to bank seeds and possibly regrow the species in the wild.
Features
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How Kenya is helping its neighbors develop geothermal energy
Renewable energy is crucial to halting climate change. In East Africa, the region’s geology makes geothermal energy a viable option.
More Stories from the July 1, 2023 issue
- Anthropology
Homo naledi may have dug cave graves and carved marks into cave walls
Proposed discoveries of humanlike activities by these ancient, small-brained hominids have elicited skepticism from some researchers.
- Astronomy
A simulation of a dying star shows how it could create gravitational waves
Massive jets and an expanding cocoon of debris from a collapsing star could be a source of never-before-seen ripples in spacetime.
- Climate
Why the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season is especially hard to predict
It’s hard to know how busy this year’s Atlantic hurricane season will be, thanks to a rarely observed combination of ocean and climate conditions.
- Math
A ‘vampire einstein’ tile outdoes mathematicians’ latest feat
A newfound shape covers an infinite plane with a pattern that doesn’t repeat and without mirror images of the shape.
- Animals
Bowhead whales may have a cancer-defying superpower: DNA repair
Bowhead whale cells repair damaged DNA exceptionally well, an ability that could prevent cancer and help the marine mammals live for centuries
- Animals
How a new Lyme vaccine for mice may protect people
A vaccine, distributed as pellets, can neutralize Lyme-causing bacteria in wildlife. Scientists hope it will reduce Lyme exposure for people and pets.
- Life
Air pollution monitoring may accidentally help scientists track biodiversity
Filters in air monitoring facilities inadvertently capture environmental DNA, which could give scientists a new tool to track local plants and animals.
- Health & Medicine
Taurine slows aging in mice. Will it ever work for people?
The amino acid taurine — found in meats, produced by the body and common in energy drinks — may have a role in health and aging, a new study suggests.
- Life
Coral reefs host millions of bacteria, revealing Earth’s hidden biodiversity
A new estimate of microbial life living in Pacific reefs is similar to global counts, suggesting many more microbes call Earth home than thought.
- Space
A cyclone has been spotted swirling over Uranus’ north pole for the first time
Voyager 2 hinted at a cyclone at Uranus’ south pole. Now Earth-based observations give the first direct evidence of a storm at the ice giant’s north pole.
- Planetary Science
JWST captured Enceladus’ plume spraying water nearly 10,000 kilometers into space
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reveals the rate at which Saturn’s moon Enceladus spews water and where that water ends up.
- Animals
These ants build tall nest hills to help show the way home
Desert ants living in the harsh, flat salt pans of Tunisia create towering anthills to aid with navigating the near-featureless terrain.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, scientists thought coffee might treat hyperactivity
Decades of follow-up research into whether caffeine can treat the symptoms of kids with ADHD has come up with more questions than answers.
- Humans
Oldest traces of a dysentery-causing parasite were found in ancient toilets
Scientists have found traces of giardia in two toilets used by wealthy residents of Jerusalem in the 7th and 6th century B.C.
- Life
5,000 deep-sea animals new to science turned up in ocean records
Scientists compiled a list of animals unknown to science that live in a deep-sea Pacific Ocean ecosystem targeted for mining exploration.
- Humans
Race car drivers tend to blink at the same places in each lap
Blinking is thought to occur randomly, but a new study tracking blinks in racing drivers shows it can be predictable — and strategic.
