Vol. 193 No. 8
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More Stories from the May 12, 2018 issue

  1. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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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