Health & Medicine
‘The Poisoned City’ chronicles Flint’s water crisis
A new book examines how lead ended up in Flint’s water and resulted in a prolonged public health disaster.
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Cover Story
The ecosystem that controls a galaxy’s future is coming into focus
An invisible cloak called the circumgalactic medium controls a galaxy’s life and death.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Chemistry
How a particle accelerator helped recover tarnished 19th century images
Chemists used a synchrotron to peek beneath 150 years of grime on damaged daguerreotype images, revealing hidden portraits.
Notebook
Animals
Each year painted lady butterflies cross the Sahara — and then go back again
Painted ladies migrate the farthest of any butterfly.
Features
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The brain may clean out Alzheimer’s plaques during sleep
Sleep deprivation may speed up development of Alzheimer’s disease.
More Stories from the July 21, 2018 issue
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Health & MedicineThe number of teens who report having sex is down
About 40 percent of high school students are having sex, the lowest amount in the last three decades.
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AstronomyMagnetic fields may be propping up the Pillars of Creation
Scientists made a map of the magnetic field within the Pillars of Creation, a star-forming area depicted in an iconic Hubble Space Telescope image.
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TechWith this new system, robots can ‘read’ your mind
Giving robots instructions via brain waves and hand gestures could help the machines operate more safely and efficiently.
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LifeHere’s how drinking coffee could protect your heart
Coffee’s heart-healthy effects rely on boosting cells’ energy production, a study in mice suggests.
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PhysicsEinstein’s general relativity reigns supreme, even on a galactic scale
Scientists have made the most precise test of Einstein’s theory of gravity at great distances.
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LifeIt may take a village (of proteins) to turn on genes
Clusters of proteins transiently work together to turn on genes, new microscopy studies of live cells suggest.
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AnthropologyA 2,200-year-old Chinese tomb held a new gibbon species, now extinct
Researchers have discovered a new gibbon species in an ancient royal Chinese tomb. It's already extinct.
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Health & MedicineNew studies add evidence to a possible link between Alzheimer’s and herpesvirus
Researchers saw higher levels of herpesvirus in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, which may contribute to plaque formation.
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LifeZika gets the most extreme close-up of any flavivirus
The closest look yet at Zika virus may reveal some vulnerabilities.
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Health & MedicinePoliovirus treatment helped patients with deadly brain tumors live longer
A genetically modified poliovirus appears to help fight brain cancer, a small, early-stage clinical study suggests.
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Planetary ScienceMars got its crust quickly
The Martian crust had solidified within 20 million years of the solar system’s formation.
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NeuroscienceA brain chemical tied to narcolepsy may play a role in opioid addiction
Long-term use of opioids such as heroin is linked to having more brain cells that release a chemical that regulates wakefulness and arousal.
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AstronomyNASA’s Parker probe is about to get up close and personal with the sun
The Parker Solar Probe is about to make a historic voyage to touch the sun.
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AnimalsWhy humans, and Big Macs, depend on bees
Thor Hanson, the author of Buzz, explains the vital role bees play in our world.
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Particle Physics50 years ago, neutrinos ghosted scientists
In the last half-century, neutrino detectors have spotted particles cast out by the sun, supernova 1987A and a supermassive black hole.