Life
- Animals
Where does Godzilla get his atomic breath?
Some secrets of the kaiju’s atomic breath can be explained with creative applications of physics and biology.
- Ecosystems
The Amazon is in trouble. Here’s why — and why it matters
Challenges from human-caused climate change, deforestation and degradation leave the fate of this vast forest uncertain.
- Physics
‘Feathering’ helps explain Gentoos’ record-breaking swim speed
Videos and computer analyses reveal the secrets of the penguins’ superspeed. The results could inspire future underwater vehicles.
- Health & Medicine
RNA work that led to COVID-19 vaccines wins 2023 Nobel in medicine
Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman overcame hurdles to using mRNA for medicine. This led to COVID vaccines — and maybe, one day, some for other infections.
- Brain
Neuroscientists decoded a song from brain activity
The technique could help improve communication devices for people who are unable to speak.
- Animals
This massive ancient whale may be the heaviest animal ever known
Called Perucetus colossus, it may have tipped the scales at up to 340 metric tons — more than today’s blue whales.
- Animals
This egg-eater may have the biggest gulp of any snake its size
Slither aside, Burmese pythons. This little African snake has a truly outsized swallow.
- Brain
A rat’s playfulness relies on cells in one part of its brain
Certain cells here control its behavior. Studying this circuitry could also help us understand depression in people.
- Animals
A new technique creates glowing whole-body maps of mice
Removing cholesterol from mouse bodies lets fluorescent proteins seep into every tissue. That has helped researchers map entire body parts.
- Agriculture
Crops are being engineered to thrive in our changing climate
Plants are already the best carbon catchers on Earth. New research could make them even better.
- Animals
Toothed whales use their noses to whistle and click
Much as people do, toothed whales, such as dolphins and sperm whales, make noises in three different vocal registers.
- Agriculture
Cow dung spews a climate-warming gas. Adding algae could limit that
But how useful this is depends on whether cows eat the red algae, a type of seaweed — or it gets added to their wastes after they’re pooped out.
