Vol. 194 No. 9

Reviews & Previews

Science Visualized

Notebook

Features

More Stories from the November 10, 2018 issue

  1. Europa icy spires
    Planetary Science

    Spiky ice spires may stud the equator of Jupiter’s moon Europa

    Fields of jagged ice spires, if they exist, could affect where future spacecraft land on the Jovian moon.

    By
  2. brain diagram with hippocampus
    Neuroscience

    How your brain is like a film editor

    A brain structure called the hippocampus may slice our continuous existence into discrete chunks that can be stored as memories.

    By
  3. person vaping
    Health & Medicine

    Nearly 2 million U.S. adult nonsmokers vape

    A new study finds that an estimated 1.9 million U.S. adult nonsmokers use e-cigarettes, highlighting worries that the devices are addictive.

    By
  4. honeybee
    Animals

    What bees did during the Great American Eclipse

    A rare study of bees during a total solar eclipse finds that the insects buzzed around as usual — until totality.

    By
  5. supernova iPTF 14gqr
    Astronomy

    The first observed wimpy supernova may have birthed a neutron star duo

    Scientists have spotted a faint, fast supernova for the first time, possibly explaining how pairs of dense stellar corpses called neutron stars form.

    By
  6. pile and bottle of dietary supplements
    Health & Medicine

    Hundreds of dietary supplements are tainted with potentially harmful drugs

    Most dietary supplements tainted with pharmaceutical drugs were marketed for sexual enhancement, weight loss or muscle building.

    By
  7. Pallas's long-tongued bat hovering
    Animals

    How nectar bats fly nowhere

    Exquisitely sensitive tech makes first direct measurements of the forces of bat wingbeats.

    By
  8. beer
    Agriculture

    Add beer to the list of foods threatened by climate change

    Barley crops around the world will be threatened by drought and heat.

    By
  9. burying beetles
    Animals

    In cadaver caves, baby beetles grow better with parental goo

    A dead mouse — with the right microbial treatment from beetle parents — becomes a much better nursery than your average carcass.

    By
  10. illustration of smell and direction
    Neuroscience

    People who have a good sense of smell are also good navigators

    A sense of smell and a sense of direction are tangled in the brain, a new study finds.

    By
  11. skull from Roman cemetery
    Archaeology

    An ancient child’s ‘vampire burial’ included steps to prevent resurrection

    A 10-year-old skeleton in a Roman cemetery had a stone placed in its mouth to prevent the youngster from rising from the dead, researchers say.

    By
  12. mounds in the rock record
    Earth

    These ancient mounds may not be the earliest fossils on Earth after all

    A new analysis suggests that tectonics, not microbes, formed cone-shaped structures in 3.7-billion-year-old rock.

    By
  13. illustration of an electron
    Particle Physics

    What the electron’s near-perfect roundness means for new physics

    The electron remains stubbornly round, meaning we may need to build beyond the Large Hadron Collider to find physics outside of the standard model.

    By
  14. a photo of Angkor Wat temple
    Archaeology

    The water system that helped Angkor rise may have also brought its fall

    A complex water system magnified flooding’s disruption of the medieval Cambodian city of Angkor.

    By
  15. gay couple walking in a field
    Genetics

    DNA differences are linked to having same-sex sexual partners

    Genetic differences are associated with choosing same-sex partners in both men and women.

    By
  16. Archaeorhynchus spathula
    Paleontology

    In a first, scientists spot what may be lungs in an ancient bird fossil

    Possible traces of lungs preserved with a 120-million-year-old bird fossil could represent a respiratory system similar to that of modern birds.

    By
  17. Tyrannosaurus rex
    Paleontology

    T. rex pulverized bones with an incredible amount of force

    Tyrannosaurus rex’s powerful bite and remarkably strong teeth helped the dinosaur crush bones.

    By
  18. Earth's atmosphere
    Climate

    ‘18 Miles’ is full of interesting tales about Earth’s atmosphere

    The new book ‘18 Miles’ takes readers on a journey through the atmosphere and the history of understanding climate and weather.

    By
  19. camel cricket
    Animals

    If you want to believe your home’s bug free, don’t read this book

    ‘Never Home Alone’ reveals the hidden world living in human-made spaces.

    By