History ‘Wow!’ the signal may finally have a source. Sorry, it’s not aliens
One of the most compelling possible signs of extraterrestrial communication may have an astrophysical explanation. Called “Wow!” signal, the bright burst of radio waves has challenged our understanding since its discovery in the 1970s. Now, scientists using archived data from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico suggest a new possible source for the signal: a […]
The Webb Telescope’s look at a stellar nursery also finds minor planets
A distant stellar nursery holds a cluster of newborn worlds the size of Jupiter, the smallest of which is surrounded by a disk of dust that may one day form moons. The detailed discovery, made thanks to the unprecedented sensitivity of the James Webb Space Telescope, could provide new insights into the formation of stars […]
Some bacteria in your mouth can divide into 14 cells at once
Among the more than 500 species of bacteria that thrive in the human mouth, one seems to play by its own rules. Instead of reproducing by dividing into two, as most bacteria do, Corynebacterium matruchotii divides into 14 cells simultaneously, researchers report on Sept. 10. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This video shows […]
In an epic cosmological clash, rival scientists begin to find common ground
The biggest conundrum in cosmology may be closer to being solved, thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope. Scientists disagree on the expansion rate of the universe, known as the Hubble constant. There are two main methods for measuring it – one based on exploding stars called supernovae and the other on the universe’s oldest […]
A neutrino mass mismatch could shake cosmology’s foundations
As the youthful universe congealed under the pull of gravity, matter knotted itself into galaxies, galaxy clusters and filaments, weaving a dazzlingly intricate cosmic web. This web’s structure is thanks, in part, to the handiwork of neutrinos — lightweight, subatomic particles that surge through the cosmos in unimaginable numbers. Because they streak about at high […]
This engineer’s light-based computers take inspiration from the brain
Bhavin Shastri still gets excited when he sees a laser pointer, and he’s been fascinated by them since he was about 10 years old. “I was amazed that a light beam could maintain its brightness, centered in a tiny spot even after traveling a great distance,” Shastri says. “A laser pointer in my hand felt like a […]
A brain network linked to attention is larger in people with depression
Symptoms of depression fluctuate over time, but many brain imaging studies of the condition only study one point in time. That’s made it hard to connect networks of brain activity to various symptoms and mood changes. Now, a new study using long-term brain imaging data shows one brain network involved in guiding attention is nearly […]
How did dark matter shape the universe? This physicist has ideas
At age 12, Tracy Slatyer felt sorry for a book. She read a newspaper article about how lots of people were buying A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. “But then … nobody was actually reading it,” she says. “People were just leaving it on their coffee tables.” Determined to rectify this wrong, Slatyer […]
A materials scientist seeks to extract lithium from untapped sources
Electric vehicles promise to help wean us off of fossil fuels, but they introduce a new problem: how to get enough of the lithium that EV batteries require (SN: 5/7/19). Materials scientist Chong Liu of the University of Chicago has some ideas. Existing technology can extract lithium only from sources with highly concentrated ions, like […]
A study in mice hints at a new way to treat spinal cord injuries
After a devastating spinal cord injury, mice’s nerve cells balloon up in size. Some of these neurons stay swollen longer than expected and begin to die, a study published September 25 in Science Translational Medicine shows. A drug that brought this swelling down improved the mice’s recovery, though it’s not yet known if the approach […]