Uncategorized

  1. Climate

    Scientists Say: Weather bomb

    Weather doesn’t just affect the air. Huge storms can send waves of pressure through the Earth as well.

    By
  2. Climate

    Here’s why Irma caused some coastal water to temporarily go missing

    The first sign of an impending storm surge — and serious danger — may be the sudden, wholesale retreat of water from coastal beaches.

    By
  3. Planets

    Cassini spacecraft takes its final bow

    Twenty years after it left Earth, NASA’s Cassini mission is about to end — with a crash into Saturn.

    By
  4. Climate

    Five portraits of Hurricane Irma’s record-breaking fury

    A series of remarkable images capture Hurricane Irma’s power and might — and the lessons they can teach scientists.

    By
  5. Physics

    The quantum world is mind-bogglingly weird

    At the smallest scales, particles are ghostly and ill-behaved. No one understands them, but that doesn’t keep scientists from trying.

    By
  6. Physics

    Explainer: Quantum is the world of the super small

    The word quantum often gets misused. What does it mean? Think small. Really, really small.

    By
  7. Animals

    Poop-eating gulls can be pain in the butt for seal pups

    The birds can harm baby fur seals as they try to dine on fresh parasites in the pups’ feces.

    By
  8. Brain

    Brains may need flexible networks to learn well

    New data suggest that brain cells may learn best when they are able to easily make and break off communications with neighbors — or distant brain regions.

    By
  9. Animals

    Three simple rules guide fire ants in building towers

    Fire ants build towers of ants to protect themselves during a flood. New research reveals the simple rules that guide how they do this, no foreman needed.

    By
  10. Chemistry

    Scientists Say: Capsaicin

    This chemical is produced by pepper plants and gives them their hot flavor.

    By
  11. Chemistry

    Recycling urine may be a way to boost plant growth

    A new chemical method makes nutrient-rich fertilizers from human urine.

    By
  12. Animals

    As trees come down, some hidden homes are disappearing

    Animals such as frogs, toucans and possums live in tree hollows. But as people have cut down trees, a wildlife housing shortage has developed in some places.

    By