Even as firefighters are starting to gain ground on the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, residents there are just beginning to grapple with the emotional trauma of the disaster. The fires have, so far, left more than two dozen people dead and destroyed over 10,000 structures and homes, with those numbers expected to rise. People…
It’s a pivotal moment for nuclear weapons. Tensions between the United States and Russia, the two major nuclear powers, are high. Longstanding nuclear pacts have crumbled. China, which trails well behind the United States and Russia in nuclear arms, is beefing up its arsenal. North Korea is a nuclear threat, and Iran is on the threshold….
To keep a Hula-Hoop aloft, it helps to be in shape — literally. Experiments with gyrating, hoop-slinging robots have revealed how these spinning rings stay up despite the pull of gravity. The shape of the robot’s body is a crucial factor, researchers report in the Jan. 7 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The shape needs…
Some of our species’ earliest ancestors may have spent a lot more time eating salad than steak. An analysis of the chemical composition of fossilized teeth in Australopithecus africanus — an early relative of humans — suggests the bipedal primates had primarily vegetarian diets, researchers report in the Jan. 17 Science. The findings provide direct…
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD. — For the first time, astronomers have taken a direct look at an exoplanet’s insides. An exoplanet about 800 light-years away is spilling its guts into space, and new observations with the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, have let astronomers read the entrails, astronomers report this week at a meeting of…
Megadroughts are increasing worldwide — and they’re also becoming both hotter and drier. Over the last 30 years, Earth has experienced an uptick in both frequency and intensity of these punishing, persistent droughts that can last years to decades, researchers report in the Jan. 17 Science. Such lengthy precipitation deficits not only shrink the drinking…
What bird flu experts are watching for in 2025
As a volcanic eruption darkened the sun roughly 4,900 years ago, a Stone Age culture sacrificed hundreds of decorated stone plaques to try to coax it back. A trove of engraved stones unearthed from ritual gathering sites on Bornholm, an island in Denmark, display motifs that most commonly represent the sun and croplike plants. What’s…