All Stories
- Physics
Scientists vote to fix the world’s weight-loss problem
Scientists will soon vote to change the definition of the kilogram. The event shows how much we depend on a tiny metal cylinder locked in an underground vault in France.
- Climate
California’s Carr Fire spawned a true fire tornado
On July 23, an innocuous spark grew into California’s deadly Carr Fire. Three days later, it unleashed a lethal fire tornado.
- Genetics
Plants don’t grow well when always on high alert
Plants make bitter-tasting chemicals to defend themselves against hungry bugs. But they pay a cost for always being on alert, scientists find.
- Chemistry
Super-water-repellent surfaces can generate energy
Scientists knew they could get power by running salt water over an electrically charged surface. But making that surface super-water-repellent boosts that energy production, new data show.
- Fossils
T. rex pulverized bones with an incredible amount of force
Tyrannosaurus rex’s powerful bite and remarkably strong teeth helped the dinosaur crush bones.
- Physics
Scientists Say: Multiverse
The multiverse is an idea that there are many universes out there, including the one we live in. Each universe has an alternate reality.
- Genetics
Gene editing creates mice with no mom
Scientists used gene editing to make the first ever mice with two dads. But these motherless pups died soon after birth.
- Climate
Teens and tweens sue United States over climate change
Children brought a lawsuit over climate change. It claims the government’s actions on fossil fuels deprived young people of basic rights. Science is key to the claims.
- Climate
The odd ways that weather can unfold in a warming world
New analyses describe how global and regional weather may unfold in the coming decades as people release more planet-warming greenhouse gases.
- Climate
Is climate change fanning megafires?
Climate studies predict that a warmer world will up the risk of megafires. Now, scientists are studying real blazes for the fingerprint of a warming climate.
- Brain
How your brain is like a film editor
A brain structure called the hippocampus may slice our ongoing lives into distinct chunks so that they can then be stored as memories.
- Brain
The immune system has a say in how hard ‘teen’ rats play
“Teen” rats like to wrestle. A new study shows the brain’s immune system might trigger changes that morph this desire for rough-and-tumble play into the calm of adulthood.
