Health & Medicine
‘Aroused’ recounts the fascinating history of hormones
The new book "Aroused" demystifies hormones, the chemicals that put the zing into life.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
How to make CAR-T cell therapies for cancer safer and more effective
CAR-T cell therapy was approved by the FDA in late 2017. Now, scientists are working to tame the cancer treatment’s side effects.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Earth
Here’s a look at the world’s deadliest volcanoes — and the ways they kill
Scientists gathered data on nearly 280,000 global volcano deaths from 1500 to 2017 and sorted fatalities by cause of death, such as lava flows or gas.
Notebook
Health & Medicine
Even in the shade, a car’s interior can get lethally hot
A car’s interior can get lethally hot on summer days, even when it’s parked in the shade.
Features
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Why won’t this debate about an ancient cold snap die?
Critics are still unconvinced that a comet caused a mysterious cold snap 12,800 years ago.
More Stories from the July 7, 2018 issue
- Environment
A big analysis of environmental data strengthens the case for plant-based diets
A new study calculates the bonus for the planet of choosing more foods from plants.
- Life
Dogs carry a surprising variety of flu viruses
Dogs in China carry a wider variety of flu viruses than previously thought, and may be capable of passing the flu to humans.
- Particle Physics
If real, dark fusion could help demystify this physics puzzle
Fusing dark matter particles might explain why galaxy cores have evenly distributed dark matter.
- Tech
A new 3-D printer builds temporary electronics on your skin
A new 3-D printer that tracks and compensates for your slightest twitch can precisely print simple electronic devices onto your skin.
- Climate
Tropical cyclones have slowed over the last 70 years
Tropical cyclones are moving 10 percent slower, on average, than they did in the mid-20th century, potentially making them more dangerous.
- Planetary Science
Curiosity finds that Mars’ methane changes with the seasons
The Curiosity rover found seasonally changing methane in Mars’ atmosphere and more signs of organic molecules in an ancient lake bed.
- Animals
In a conservation catch-22, efforts to save quolls might endanger them
After 13 generations isolated from predators, the endangered northern quoll lost its fear of them.
- Archaeology
This theory suggests few workers were needed to cap Easter Island statues
A small workforce may have put huge stones on the heads of Easter Island statues.
- Animals
Bees join an exclusive crew of animals that get the concept of zero
Honeybees can pass a test of ranking ‘nothing’ as less than one.
- Health & Medicine
Suicide rates have shot up in almost every U.S. state
Suicide rates increased sharply in nearly all 50 states from 1999 to 2016, according to a new government report.
- Artificial Intelligence
A new AI can focus on one voice in a crowd
The artificial intelligence can ignore background noise in videos and focus on what a particular person is saying.
- Health & Medicine
If you thought the most recent flu season was bad, you were right
The recent U.S. flu season was classified as highly severe overall, the third time since 2003 that the seasonal outbreak has earned that designation.
- Environment
Sunshine is making Deepwater Horizon oil stick around
Sunlight created oxygen-rich oil by-products that are still hanging around eight years after the Deepwater Horizon spill.
- Physics
This heavy element has a football-shaped atomic nucleus
Three nobelium isotopes have oblong nuclei, and some sport a ‘bubble’ center.
- Climate
Antarctica has lost about 3 trillion metric tons of ice since 1992
Antarctica’s rate of ice loss has sped up since 1992 — mostly in the last five years, raising global sea level by almost 8 millimeters on average.
- Animals
Here’s what narwhals sound like underwater
Scientists eavesdropped while narwhals clicked and buzzed. The work could help pinpoint how the whales may react to more human noise in the Arctic.
- Paleontology
These newfound frogs have been trapped in amber for 99 million years
Trapped in amber, 99-million-year-old frog fossils reveal the amphibians lived in a wet, tropical climate.
- Astronomy
Swirling gases reveal baby planets in a young star’s disk
A new technique pinpointed three planets forming around a young star about 330 light-years from Earth.
- Psychology
Phone apps are helping scientists track suicidal thoughts in real time
Researchers are using smartphones to tap into the ups and downs of suicidal thinking that occur over hours and days, hoping to help prevent suicides.
- Animals
‘Spying on Whales’ dives into the story of true leviathans
"Spying on Whales" retraces the evolution of cetaceans, explaining how they came to be some of Earth’s largest creatures.
- Genetics
The study of human heredity got its start in insane asylums
‘Genetics in the Madhouse’ reveals how human heredity research began as a statistical science in 19th century insane asylums.
- Tech
50 years ago, a Japanese scientist dreamed up a rocket-propelled train
50 years ago, a Japanese engineer tried rocket boosters on a train. Today, high-speed trains propelled by superconducting magnets are being tested.
