Squall line tornadoes are sneaky, dangerous and difficult to forecast
Meteorologist Thea Sandmael watched the storm close in. It was near enough for her to spot a rotating dome of…
Zigzag walls could help buildings beat the heat
Here’s a twist: Adding zigzags to walls could help cool an overheated building, even as global temperatures rise. Researchers devised…
50 years ago, scientists blamed migraines on cheese and chocolate
Chocolate, cheese and migraines — Science News, August 10, 1974 A new study of migraine and food ingestion … is reported in…
Some meteors leave trails lasting up to an hour. Now we may know why
To leave a lasting trail, meteors need to aim low. A new survey of shooting stars shows that meteors that…
Earthquakes added to Pompeii’s death toll
In A.D. 79, a massive volcano in southern Italy suddenly, explosively awoke, leading to one of the ancient world’s deadliest…
Record-breaking Coral Sea temperatures threaten the Great Barrier Reef
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef faces critical danger from back-to-back bouts of extreme ocean heat. Ocean heat in the Coral Sea…
Hundreds of snake species get a new origin story
The ancestors of cobras and related snakes first emerged in Asia roughly 35 million years ago. Many researchers thought the…
‘Then I Am Myself the World’ ponders what it means to be conscious
Then I Am Myself the WorldChristof KochBasic Books, $30 The human brain is the most complex information integrator known in…
Why a small seabird dares to fly toward cyclones
Tropical cyclones are synonymous with destruction. But at least one seabird may take advantage of them as feeding opportunities. The…
Was Egypt’s first pyramid built with hydraulics? The theory may hold water
Waterpower may have given a big lift to builders of Egypt’s oldest known pyramid, the nearly 4,700-year-old Step Pyramid of…
