Vol. 199 No. 7
Read Digital Issue Modal Example Archive Issues Modal Example |

Reviews & Previews

Science Visualized

Notebook

Features

More Stories from the April 10, 2021 issue

  1. Physics

    A tiny gold ball is the smallest object to have its gravity measured

    A gold sphere with a mass of about 90 milligrams pulled on another sphere in accordance with Newton’s law of universal gravitation.

    By
  2. Environment

    The world wasted nearly 1 billion metric tons of food in 2019

    A new United Nations global food waste report shows where waste can be reduced, which would decrease hunger and greenhouse gas emissions.

    By
  3. Space

    Most of Mars’ missing water may lurk in its crust

    Computer simulations of the fate of Mars’ water may explain why the Red Planet turned into a desert, when so little of its water has escaped into space.

    By
  4. Earth

    Phosphorus for Earth’s earliest life may have been forged by lightning

    Lightning strikes can supply one of life’s essential elements, long thought to be delivered by meteorites billions of years ago.

    By
  5. Health & Medicine

    The latest Ebola outbreak may have started with someone infected years ago

    Rather than stemming from a virus that jumped from an animal to a person, this outbreak might have originated from someone who had a dormant virus.

    By
  6. Health & Medicine

    A deadly fungus behind hospital outbreaks was found in nature for the first time

    Learning where the fungus Candida auris thrives in nature could help reveal why this yeast is dangerous to humans.

    By
  7. Anthropology

    Riches in a Bronze Age grave suggest it holds a queen

    Researchers have long assumed mostly men ran ancient Bronze Age societies, but the find points to a female ruler in Spain 3,700 years ago.

    By
  8. Physics

    Can room-temperature superconductors work without extreme pressure?

    The next generation of materials that conduct electricity with no resistance could shrug off the need for high pressure and low temperatures.

    By
  9. Astronomy

    A gargantuan supernova remnant looks 40 times as big as the full moon

    New observations confirm that a cloud in the constellation Antlia really is a supernova remnant and the largest ever seen from Earth.

    By
  10. Animals

    Female green tree frogs have noise-canceling lungs that help them hear mates

    When inflated, female green tree frog lungs resonate in a way that reduces sensitivity to the sounds of other species.

    By
  11. Animals

    Two bonobos adopted infants outside their group, marking a first for great apes

    Female bonobos in a reserve in the Congo took care of orphaned infants — feeding, carrying and cuddling them — for at least one year.

    By
  12. Animals

    Cone snail venom may trick mate-seeking worms into becoming meals

    Cone snail venom contains worm pheromone mimics, suggesting the chemicals may be used to lure worms during hunting.

    By
  13. Animals

    A year after Australia’s wildfires, extinction threatens hundreds of species

    As experts piece together a fuller picture of the scale of damage to wildlife, more than 500 species may need to be listed as endangered.

    By
  14. Science & Society

    A new book explores how military funding shaped the science of oceanography

    In ‘Science on a Mission,’ science historian Naomi Oreskes argues that funding from the U.S. Navy both facilitated and stymied marine research.

    By
  15. Science & Society

    50 years ago, the United States wanted to deflate the helium stockpile

    An attempt to dismantle the Federal Helium Reserve in 1971 failed. Fifty years later, the U.S. government is still determined to run out of gas.

    By