Health & Medicine
Microbes make the meal, new diet book proposes
Researcher Tim Spector skewers conventional thinking about weight loss in ‘The Diet Myth’
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Climate
Virtual twister reveals possible source of tornado longevity
First computer simulation of a long-lived EF5 tornado may reveal why some twisters stick around.
Notebook
Climate
Carbon cuts could save U.S. farmers billions of dollars
Reducing carbon emissions could save U.S. agriculture industry billions of dollars annually by curtailing droughts.
Features
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Apes do the darndest things
Several chimp behaviors have researchers wondering if apes are a good model for early hominid life.
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The magnetic mystery at the center of the Earth
The history of the planet’s all-important magnetic field has scientists ramping up simulations and lab experiments to resolve a baffling paradox.
More Stories from the September 19, 2015 issue
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Particle PhysicsAntimatter doesn’t differ from charge-mass expectations
An experiment with unprecedented precision finds that protons and antiprotons have the same ratio of charge to mass, which is consistent with theories but disappoints many physicists.
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GeneticsHow an octopus’s cleverness may have evolved
Scientists have sequenced the octopus genome, revealing molecular similarities to mammals.
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AnthropologyBones revive a 7,000-year-old massacre
Bones suggest Central Europe’s first farmers had an extremely violent streak.
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Health & MedicineTeen e-cig users more likely to smoke tobacco
E-cigarette use is linked to later tobacco use in teens.
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AnimalsHummingbird tongues may work like micropumps
Hummingbird tongues work as elastic micropumps instead of simple thin tubes, researchers say in latest round of a scientific debate.
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Health & Medicine‘Vomiting device’ sounds gross but it helps study infections
Scientists created a “vomiting device” to study how norovirus spreads through the air.
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GeneticsGene thought to cause obesity works indirectly
Researchers have discovered a “genetic switch” that determines whether people will burn extra calories or save them as fat.
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AnimalsSeeing humans as superpredators
People have become a unique predator, hunting mostly adults of other species.
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LifeExtinction in lab bottle was a fluke, experiment finds
Extinction in a bottle was a random catastrophe, not survival of the fittest.
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ClimateKatrina’s legacy: Refining hurricane forecasting
Ten years following Hurricane Katrina’s formation, the storm’s devastating legacy in New Orleans and beyond continues to drive storm forecast improvements.
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Quantum PhysicsPhysicists get answers from computer that didn’t run
By exploiting the quirks of quantum mechanics, physicists consistently determined what a quantum computer would have done without actually running the computer.
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NeuroscienceAltered protein makes mice smarter
By tweaking a single gene, scientists have turned average mice into supersmart daredevils.
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Quantum Physics
New experiment verifies quantum spookiness
A new experiment provides the most robust proof that quantum mechanics doesn’t follow the rules we take for granted in everyday life.
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EarthVolcanic activity convicted in Permian extinction
Precision dating confirms that Siberian volcanic eruptions could have triggered the Permian extinction.
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AstronomyEight more galaxies found orbiting the Milky Way
The dozens of satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way make excellent laboratories for studying dark matter.
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Physics3-D printed device cracks cocktail party problem
A plastic disk does what sophisticated computers cannot: solve the cocktail party problem.
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NeuroscienceHints of how the brain “sees” dreams emerge
Nerve cells that make sense of visual input keep chugging away during REM sleep, suggesting that these cells may help a sleeper “see” dreams.
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AnimalsWhen octopuses dance beak to beak
The larger Pacific striped octopus does sex, motherhood and shrimp pranks like nobody else.
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PhysicsNobel laureate finds beauty in science and science in beauty
In ‘A Beautiful Question,’ Frank Wilczek explores links between math and art
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AstronomyGo to Green Bank to listen to the stars
Visitors to the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia get a close-up with the world’s largest movable land object.
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AstronomyTwo stars were once considered coldest known
Two stars once thought to be the coldest known are actually scorching compared with some truly frigid brown dwarfs.
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Planetary ScienceThe sad magnetic state of the solar system’s rocky worlds
While a strong magnetic shield protects Earth from the sun’s occasional outbursts, the solar system’s other rocky planets are mostly defenseless.