Vol. 196 No. 9
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Cover of the Nov. 23, 2019 issue of Science News

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More Stories from the November 23, 2019 issue

  1. smoke stacks
    Climate

    50 years ago, scientists puzzled over a slight global cooling

    Five decades ago, scientists were puzzled over a slight dip in global temperatures. Today we know it was just a blip, and that Earth’s climate is warming thanks to industrial activity over the last century.

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  2. tumbleweeds
    Plants

    Why tumbleweeds may be more science fiction than Old West

    A tumbleweed is just a maternal plant corpse giving her living seeds a chance at a good life somewhere new.

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  3. aye-aye
    Life

    Aye-ayes just got weirder with the discovery of a tiny, sixth ‘finger’

    Aye-ayes have a sixth “finger,” or pseudothumb, that may compensate for other, overspecialized fingers by helping the lemurs grip things.

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  4. Voyager 1 and 2
    Space

    Voyager 2 reveals the dynamic, complex nature of the solar system’s edge

    With two spacecraft outside the sun’s magnetic bubble, researchers get a new look at the boundary between the sun and its galactic environment.

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  5. white bellbird
    Animals

    White bellbirds have the loudest known mating call of any bird

    White bellbirds have the loudest mating call, according to scientists who compared the songs of bellbirds and screaming pihas in the Brazilian Amazon.

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  6. Space

    Strontium is the first heavy element detected from a neutron star merger

    The discovery of strontium created inside a neutron star smashup gives the clearest picture yet of what goes on inside this chaotic environment.

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  7. Saturn
    Planetary Science

    Astronomers have spotted a new type of storm on Saturn

    In 2018, telescopes on Earth and in space identified a never-before-seen kind of storm activity on the ringed planet.

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  8. lawn wolf spider
    Animals

    Spider webs don’t rot easily and scientists may have figured out why

    Spider silk doesn’t rot quickly because bacteria can’t access its nitrogen, a nutrient needed for the microbes’ growth, scientists say.

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  9. bird eggs
    Life

    Bird eggs laid in cold climates are darker, which may keep eggs warm

    A global survey of bird egg color reveals a simple trend: the colder the climate, the darker the egg.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    These tiny aquatic animals secrete a compound that may help fight snail fever

    A newly identified molecule from rotifers paralyzes the larvae of worms that cause schistosomiasis, which affects over 200 million people worldwide.

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  11. solar system illustration
    Space

    Rules guarding other planets from contamination may be too strict

    Voluntary international guidelines for visiting the moon, Mars and other places — and for bringing stuff back to Earth — are overly cautious, scientists say.

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  12. man sleeping
    Neuroscience

    Sleep may trigger rhythmic power washing in the brain

    Strong, rhythmic waves of cerebrospinal fluid wash into the human brain during sleep and may help clean out harmful proteins.

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  13. amyloid-beta protein
    Neuroscience

    Alzheimer’s may scramble metabolism’s connection to sleep

    Mice designed to have brain changes that mimic Alzheimer’s disease have altered reactions to blood sugar changes.

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  14. Prozac pills
    Health & Medicine

    Prozac proves no better than a placebo in treating kids with autism

    In a small clinical trial, drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors didn’t ease obsessive-compulsive symptoms in children with autism.

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  15. San hunter gatherers
    Humans

    Humans’ maternal ancestors may have arisen 200,000 years ago in southern Africa

    New DNA findings on humankind’s maternal roots don’t offer a complete picture of how and when Homo sapiens emerged.

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