On May 10, 2024, the strongest solar storm in 20 years sparked auroras on Earth that were visible as far south as Florida. It also created two new bands of radiation around the planet, researchers report in the February JGR Space Physics. Earth is encircled by two donut-shaped bands of particles called the Van Allen…
A strange type of ice thought to dwell deep in the oceans of alien planets has finally been proven to exist. For the first time, researchers have directly observed a sort of hybrid phase of water called plastic ice, which forms at high temperatures and pressures and exhibits traits of both solid ice and liquid…
This is episode 2 of The Deep End. Listen to more episodes here. Depression can affect not just the mind, but the body, too. Inner experiences of mental struggles are private. But in this episode, Jon Nelson and another volunteer, Amanda, let listeners in. Woven into their stories is a brief history of deep brain…
Some species of megafauna might have existed for much longer than the paleontological canon suggests. Current thinking says that ancient, large animals such as ground sloths went extinct about 11,000 years ago — at the beginning of the Holocene, the current geologic epoch. The discovery of a 4,000-year-old wooly mammoth, reported last year, helped to…
BOSTON — The official theme of the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held February 13–15, is “Science Shaping Tomorrow.” The unofficial theme is “uncertainty.” With thousands of scientists, advocates and policy experts in attendance, AAAS is the largest science meeting to take place in the United States since the beginning…
Who are the indirect costs of NIH research? We talked to 3