Vol. 193 No. 8

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Science Visualized

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Features

More Stories from the May 12, 2018 issue

  1. bootlace worm
    Animals

    Toxins from the world’s longest animal can kill cockroaches

    Bootlace worms can stretch up to 55 meters long and ooze toxins that can kill cockroaches and green crabs.

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  2. Saniwa ensidens
    Paleontology

    This ancient lizard may have watched the world through four eyes

    A lizard that lived 50 million years ago had both a third and a fourth eye.

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  3. nerve cells in hippocampi
    Neuroscience

    Human brains make new nerve cells — and lots of them — well into old age

    In humans, new neurons are still born in old brains, new research suggests.

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  4. plastic pollution
    Environment

    Microplastics may enter freshwater and soil via compost

    Compost is pinpointed as a source of plastic pollution, but environmental fate and effects unknown.

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  5. Abell 3827
    Astronomy

    Dark matter isn’t interacting with itself after all

    Hints that a distant galactic collision knocked dark matter askew fizzled with new observations.

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  6. Finger fossil
    Anthropology

    Finger fossil puts people in Arabia at least 86,000 years ago

    A desert discovery suggests that Arabia was an ancient human destination.

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  7. hospital
    Microbes

    This material uses energy from ambient light to kill hospital superbugs

    A quantum dot–powered material could help reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections, including those with drug-resistant bacteria.

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  8. illustration of TESS telescpope
    Astronomy

    With the launch of TESS, NASA will boost its search for exoplanets

    The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite will set the stage for the next chapter of exoplanet exploration.

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  9. illustration of two atoms
    Chemistry

    Using laser tweezers, chemists nudged two atoms to bond

    This is the first time researchers have purposefully combined two specific atoms into a molecule.

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  10. Weicheng Zhong
    Physics

    A key constant’s new measurement hints ‘dark photons’ don’t exist

    New measurement of the fine-structure constant is the most precise yet.

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  11. sweet potatoes
    Genetics

    Sweet potatoes might have arrived in Polynesia long before humans

    Genetic analysis suggests that sweet potatoes were present in Polynesia over 100,000 years ago, and didn’t need help crossing the Pacific.

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  12. norovirus in mouse tissue
    Health & Medicine

    This is how norovirus invades the body

    Norovirus targets a rare type of gut cell, a study in mice finds.

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  13. ancient dogs
    Archaeology

    Dogs lived and died with humans 10,000 years ago in the Americas

    Dogs unearthed at sites in Illinois were older than originally thought.

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  14. missile defense system
    Science & Society

    Here’s why putting a missile defense system in space could be a bad idea

    Expanding missile defense capabilities could put the world on a slippery slope to space warfare.

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  15. harbor seal
    Animals

    These seals haven’t lost their land ancestors’ hunting ways

    Clawed pawlike forelimbs help true seals hunt like their land-dwelling ancestors.

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  16. illustration of early solar system collisions
    Planetary Science

    This meteorite’s diamonds hint that it was born in a lost planet

    Bits of metal nestled inside diamonds suggest the space rock could have formed in a Mars-sized protoplanet in the early solar system.

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  17. swimming brine shrimp
    Oceans

    Masses of shrimp and krill may play a huge role in mixing oceans

    Hoards of migrating shrimp and krill can cause large-scale turbulence in the ocean, a new study suggests.

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  18. Bajau diver spear fishing
    Life

    Larger spleens may help ‘sea nomads’ stay underwater longer

    The Bajau people of Southeast Asia have a gene variant associated with larger spleens, boosting their oxygen while breath-hold diving, researchers say.

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  19. Acropora millepora
    Climate

    Heat waves are roasting reefs, but some corals may be resilient

    The latest research on coral reefs clarifies the devastation of heat waves and looks at how coral might be able to adapt to warming waters.

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