Vol. 199 No. 10
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More Stories from the June 5, 2021 issue

  1. Science & Society

    50 years ago, scientists predicted steady U.S. population growth

    The country’s annual population growth rate, mostly stable since the 1970s, is now the lowest it’s been in over a century.

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  2. Astronomy

    Mysterious ‘yellowballs’ littering the Milky Way are clusters of newborn stars

    The first comprehensive analysis of the celestial specks indicates they are clusters of infant stars of various masses.

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  3. Physics

    X-ray scans explain how the ‘Brazil nut effect’ works

    X-ray CT scans of a box of mixed nuts explain the orientations that let large, oblong Brazil nuts rise to the top.

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  4. Particle Physics

    The thickness of lead’s neutron ‘skin’ has been precisely measured

    At 0.28 trillionths of a millimeter thick, the shell of neutrons around the nucleus of an atom of lead is a bit thicker than physicists had predicted.

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  5. Astronomy

    Neutron stars may not be as squishy as some scientists thought

    NASA’s NICER X-ray telescope finds that the most massive known neutron star has an unexpectedly large diameter.

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  6. Microbes

    These climate-friendly microbes recycle carbon without producing methane

    A newly discovered group of single-celled archaea break down decaying plants without adding the greenhouse gas methane to the atmosphere.

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  7. Space

    Stars made of antimatter could lurk in the Milky Way

    Fourteen celestial sources of gamma rays provide preliminary hints of matter colliding with “antistars” in our galaxy.

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  8. Physics

    A clock’s accuracy may be tied to the entropy it creates

    A clock made from a thin, wiggling membrane releases more entropy, or disorder, as it becomes more accurate.

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  9. Astronomy

    Saturn has a fuzzy core, spread over more than half the planet’s diameter

    Analysis of a wave in one of Saturn’s rings has revealed that the planet’s core is diffuse and bloated with lots of hydrogen and helium.

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  10. Earth

    Lightning may be an important source of air-cleaning chemicals

    Airplane observations show that thunderstorms can directly generate vast quantities of atmosphere-cleansing chemicals called oxidants.

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  11. Ecosystems

    Wild donkeys and horses engineer water holes that help other species

    Dozens of animals and even some plants in the American Southwest take advantage of water-filled holes dug by these nonnative equids.

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  12. Animals

    A common antibiotic slows a mysterious coral disease

    Applying the antibiotic amoxicillin to infected lesions halted tissue death in corals for at least 11 months after treatment.

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  13. Animals

    Mantis shrimp start practicing their punches at just 9 days old

    The fastest punches in the animal kingdom probably belong to mantis shrimp, who begin unleashing these attacks just over a week after hatching.

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