Uncategorized
- Chemistry
Salt bends the rules of chemistry
When squished between two diamonds and zapped by a laser, salt’s atoms can link up in unexpected ways.
- Health & Medicine
Doggy dust could be a good thing
The outdoor dust that dogs drag in contains a mix of microbes that helped mice fend off allergic reactions and viral infections.
- Genetics
Ancient DNA sparks new mystery
DNA from a 400,000-year-old leg bone found in Spain is by far the oldest recovered from pre-human ancestors. It also shows an unexpected link to later, Asian ‘kin.’
- Space
The sun’s giant heat elevators
Scientists have long known that plumes of hot plasma rise from the sun’s interior to its outer layers. New observations have now identified especially big plumes that can be 15 times as wide as Earth’s diameter and last for months.
- Computing
Cool Jobs: Paid to dream
Some visionaries use science and engineering to see what our world could — and should — become
- Animals
How seahorses use their heads
A dwarf seahorse’s head may look funny, but its shape allows the creature to sneak up on fast-moving prey.
- Planets
Jupiter’s long-lasting storm
Most studies of Jupiter’s centuries-old Great Red Spot suggest this giant storm should have petered out after a few decades. A new study traces the storm’s staying power to the vertical movement of its gases.
- Health & Medicine
Cool Jobs: Data detectives
Statisticians are experts in seeing the patterns hidden within the raw numbers called data. They especially excel at finding real trends, while eliminating what is actually due to chance. That’s why they offer a good reality check in any field that involves numbers.
- Animals
Look ma — no stomach
Many animals can digest their meals without an acid-producing stomach. And research now shows they jettisoned those stomachs a long, long time ago.
- Computing
The data flood
Mountains of data drive advances in science, medicine and other fields. Here’s how they might affect you.
- Computing
Explainer: Data — waiting to become information
People want information. To get it, experts must sift through facts to find trends and other types of useful knowledge that has value.
- Computing
Explainer: Understanding the size of data
Data are beginning to accumulate in quantities of mammoth size.
