Animals
‘Skeleton Keys’ unlocks the history and mysteries of bones
From fish to dinosaurs to King Richard III, ‘Skeleton Keys’ surveys the scientific and cultural history of bones.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
What happens when the Bering Sea’s ice disappears?
Record-low sea ice in 2018 sent ripples through the Bering Sea’s entire ecosystem. Will this be the region’s new normal?
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Life
Physics explains how pollen gets its stunning diversity of shapes
These pollen patterns can all be explained by one simple trick of physics: phase separation.
Notebook
Animals
Scientists name 66 species as potential biodiversity threats to EU
North America’s fox squirrel, the venomous striped eel catfish and 64 other species are now considered invasive in the European Union.
Features
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Nanosponges sop up toxins and help repair tissues
Nanoparticles coated with blood cell membranes can move through the body to clean up toxins or heal tissues — without instigating an immune reaction.
More Stories from the March 16, 2019 issue
- Genetics
DNA from extinct red wolves lives on in some mysterious Texas coyotes
Mystery canids on Texas’ Galveston Island carry red wolf DNA, thought to be extinct in the wild for 40 years.
- Neuroscience
Brain scans decode an elusive signature of consciousness
Newly described patterns of brain activity may help reveal the level of awareness in people with brain injuries.
- Animals
A rare, ancient case of bone cancer has been found in a turtle ancestor
A 240-million-year-old fossil reveals the oldest known case of bone cancer in an amniote, a group that includes mammals, birds and reptiles.
- Astronomy
Ultima Thule is shaped like two lumpy pancakes
Scientists are rethinking the shape of the space rock, once thought to be a snowman.
- Archaeology
The spread of Europe’s giant stone monuments may trace back to one region
Megaliths spread across the continent due to seafarers’ influence, researcher says.
- Health & Medicine
Congo’s Ebola outbreak is a testing ground for new treatments
The first multidrug clinical trial of Ebola treatments is underway amid an outbreak in Congo.
- Planetary Science
After 15 years on Mars, it’s the end of the road for Opportunity
After 15 years of exploring Mars, a dust storm led to the demise of NASA’s longest-lived rover.
- Earth
Greenland may have another massive crater hiding under its ice
There may be yet another large crater buried beneath Greenland’s ice sheet. But it’s probably not related to the first one found last year.
- Tech
A new 2-D material uses light to quickly and safely purify water
A newly designed material uses only light to speedily remove 99.9999 percent of microbes from water.
- Materials Science
A new insulation material is practically weightless yet still durable
Extreme heat and temperature swings are no match for this lightweight insulator.
- Earth
Muons reveal the whopping voltages inside a thunderstorm
Particle physics sheds new light on the electric potential of thunderstorms.
- Psychology
STEM professors’ beliefs on intelligence may widen the racial achievement gap
Seeing intelligence as fixed can result in lower grades, especially for certain minorities
- Neuroscience
Brain cells combine place and taste to make food maps
A select group of brain cells responds to both flavor and location, a specialty that may help an animal find the next good meal.
- Quantum Physics
LIGO will be getting a quantum upgrade
Quantum squeezing of light will help scientists make better gravitational wave detectors.
- Chemistry
Why some Georgia O’Keeffe paintings have ‘art acne’
Tiny protrusions are from chemical reactions in the paint, say scientists who developed an imaging method that could help curators track the knobs.
- Archaeology
Tooth plaque shows drinking milk goes back 3,000 years in Mongolia
The hardened plaque on teeth is helping scientists trace the history of dairying in Mongolia.
- Planetary Science
Mars’ lake may need an underground volcano to exist
If a lake under Martian ice is real, there must be a subsurface magma pool to keep conditions warm enough for water to remain liquid, scientists say.
- Chemistry
Why kids may be at risk from vinyl floors and fire-resistant couches
Children from homes with all vinyl floors and flame-retardant sofas show higher levels of some synthetic chemicals in their bodies than other kids.
- Paleontology
A deer-sized T. rex ancestor shows how fast tyrannosaurs became giants
A newly found dinosaur called Moros intrepidus fills a hole in the evolutionary history of tyrannosaurs, helping narrow when the group sized up.
- Animals
The world’s largest bee has been rediscovered after 38 years
Researchers rediscovered the world’s largest bee living in the forests of an island of Indonesia.
- Health & Medicine
A ban on artificial trans fats in NYC restaurants appears to be working
New Yorkers’ levels of artificial trans fats dropped, especially in people who ate out the most, after a citywide ban on the fats in restaurant foods.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, doctors lamented a dearth of organ donors
Fifty years ago, surgeons’ supply of heart donations was woefully low.
