Genetics
Thomas Cech’s ‘The Catalyst’ spotlights RNA and its superpowers
Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Thomas Cech’s new book is part ode to RNA and part detailed history of the scientists who’ve studied it.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
Scientists are fixing flawed forensics that can lead to wrongful convictions
People have been wrongly jailed for forensic failures. Scientists are working to improve police lineups, fingerprinting and even DNA analysis.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Animals
This newfound longhorn beetle species is unusually fluffy
Discovered in Australia, the beetle is covered in whitish hairs and has distinctive eye lobes, antennae and leg shapes.
Notebook
Planetary Science
Pluto’s heart-shaped basin might not hide an ocean after all
Planetary scientists propose an alternative theory to explain why Sputnik Planitia has stayed put across Pluto’s equator.
Features
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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope could help solve these 5 exoplanet puzzles
A lot of people are focused on signs of alien life, but the space telescope will have a lot to say about exoplanet geology and formation.
More Stories from the June 1, 2024 issue
- Animals
Belugas may communicate by warping a blob of forehead fat
Jiggling the “melon” like Jell-O seems to be associated with sexual behaviors, scientists say.
- Animals
Glowing octocorals have been around for at least 540 million years
Genetic and fossil analyses shine a light on how long the invertebrates have had bioluminescence — a trait thought to be volatile.
- Neuroscience
Rat cells grew in mice brains, and helped sniff out cookies
When implanted into mouse embryos, stem cells from rats grew into forebrains and structures that handle smells.
- Health & Medicine
A new U.S. tool maps where heat will be dangerous for your health
The daily updated HeatRisk map uses color coding to show where the health threat from heat is highest and offers tips on how to stay safe.
- Materials Science
Scientists developed a sheet of gold that’s just one atom thick
Ultrathin goldene sheets could reduce the amount of gold needed for electronics and certain chemical reactions.
- Physics
Newfound ‘altermagnets’ shatter the magnetic status quo
The newly discovered type of magnetic material could improve existing tech, including making better and faster hard drives.
- Climate
Three reasons why the ocean’s record-breaking hot streak is devastating
Ocean warming enhances hurricane activity, bleaches coral reefs and melts Antarctic sea ice. That warming has been off the charts for the past year.
- Neuroscience
Lampreys have ‘fight or flight’ cells, challenging ideas about nervous system evolution
The discovery of sympathetic nervous system cells in lampreys draws a closer tie between the animal and complex vertebrates — such as humans.
- Neuroscience
How smart was T. rex?
A debate over how to count neurons in dinosaurs is raising questions about how to understand extinct animals’ behavior.
- Ecosystems
Noise pollution can harm birds even before they hatch
Exposing zebra finch eggs and hatchlings to traffic sounds had lifelong health impacts, raising concerns about increased anthropogenic noise.
- Archaeology
These Stone Age humans were more gatherer than hunter
Though not completely vegetarian, the Iberomaurusian hunter-gatherers from North Africa relied heavily on plants such as acorns, pistachios and oats.
- Space
Scientists are getting closer to understanding the sun’s ‘campfire’ flares
The detection of cool plasma before the tiny outbursts on the sun is helping researchers make connections between campfire flares and other solar eruptions.
- Health & Medicine
Malaria parasites can evade rapid tests, threatening eradication goals
Genetic mutations are making Plasmodium falciparum, parasites that cause malaria, invisible to rapid tests. New, more sensitive tests could help.
- Neuroscience
These windpipe cells trigger coughs to keep water out of the lungs
Neuroendocrine cells can sense substances on the way to the lungs and prompt reactions such as coughing and swallowing, experiments in mice show.
- Genetics
50 years ago, chimeras gave a glimpse of gene editing’s future
Advances in gene editing technology have led to the first successful transplant of a pig kidney into a human.
