All Stories
- Space
Here’s an easier new way to weigh a black hole
The timing of flickers in the gas and dust of a black hole’s accretion disk correlates to its mass, a new study finds.
- Earth
Let’s learn about meteor showers
Meteor showers happen when Earth’s orbit passes through trails of debris left behind by comets or asteroids.
- Animals
A spider’s feet hold a hairy, sticky secret
Their widespread stickiness traces to the shape of hairs on its feet, scientists now find.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Magma and lava
The word magma refers to molten rock deep inside Earth. That rock is called lava when it reaches Earth’s surface.
- Planets
Jupiter’s intense auroras heat up its atmosphere
Jupiter’s hotter-than-expected upper atmosphere may be warmed by charged particles slamming into the air above the poles.
- Earth
Explainer: How auroras light up the sky
The northern and southern lights are considered natural wonders of the world. Here’s how these and related splendid sky glows form.
- Chemistry
Chemists win Nobel Prize for faster, cleaner way of making molecules
Both scientists independently came up with new process — asymmetric organocatalysis. That name may be a mouthful, but it’s not that hard to understand.
- Chemistry
Explainer: In chemistry, what does it mean to be organic?
These are molecules formed by combining carbon with other elements, especially hydrogen.
- Brain
A sense of touch could upgrade virtual reality, prosthetics and more
Scientists and engineers are trying to add touch to online shopping, virtual doctor appointments and artificial limbs.
- Climate
Research on climate and more brings trio the 2021 physics Nobel Prize
Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann pioneered work on simulations of Earth’s climate. Giorgio Parisi probed complex materials.
- Life
Well-known wildflower turns out to be a secret meat-eater
Look closely at Triantha occidentalis, and you’ll see gluey hairs — and a trail of insect corpses on its stem.
- Health & Medicine
Starting schools later leads to less tardiness, fewer ‘zombies’
Students attending schools with later start times feel more awake during the day and are less likely to oversleep and be late for class.
