Plants might not hold on to carbon as long as we thought
Earth’s plants aren’t holding onto carbon as long as we thought. A new analysis of pulses of radioactive carbon-14 from…
Jurassic Park’s amber-preserved dino DNA is now inspiring a way to store data
Sometimes science fiction does inspire science research. À la Jurassic Park’s entombed mosquito, scientists have developed a method to store…
‘Space hurricanes’ churn at both of Earth’s magnetic poles
On Earth, hurricane season isn’t just surface level. The ionosphere, an upper layer of the atmosphere charged by solar radiation,…
World record speeds for two Olympics events have fallen over time. We can go faster
Ready, set, go break a record. As elite athletes compete for top accolades in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris,…
A Dune-inspired spacesuit turns astronaut pee into drinking water
In the science-fiction series Dune, the desert-dwelling Fremen of the arid planet Arrakis recycle their body’s moisture using specially designed…
Bird flu has been invading the brains of mammals. Here’s why
In spring 2022, a handful of red foxes in Wisconsin were behaving oddly. Veterinary pathologist Betsy Elsmo learned that a…
Freeze-drying turned a woolly mammoth’s DNA into 3-D ‘chromoglass’
Beef jerky and some woolly mammoths have at least one thing in common: Drying turns their DNA into super-tough glass.…
Landfills belch toxic ‘forever chemicals’ into the air
What’s dumped into a landfill is supposed to stay there, but a new study finds that toxic “forever chemicals” are…
A middleweight black hole has been spotted for the first time in our galaxy
For the first time, astronomers have spotted a middleweight black hole in the nearby universe. The discovery could help solve…
Breastfeeding should take a toll on bones. A brain hormone may protect them
Birthing and caring for a newborn can be hard on a mother’s bones. Estrogen, which helps regulate bone growth, drops…
