BEE TOTALITY During the solar eclipse over the United States in 2017, citizen scientists recorded bee sounds to help researchers find out what the insects do when day suddenly plunges into darkness.
Susan Ellis, Bugwood.org
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Magazine
In the Oct. 13 SN: 2018’s scientists to watch, superconductors heat up, the world’s oldest drawing, a sneaky superbug slayer, Ceres’ ice volcanoes, the birth of a neutron star, kidney stones close-up and more.
WHAT LURKS BENEATH This fluorescence micrograph shows traces of cyanobacteria (pink and blue), which typically need sunlight to survive, on a mineral collected more than 600 meters underground.
F. Puente-Sánchez/PNAS 2018
WATER WORLD The island nation of the Maldives is among the planet’s most climate change–threatened nations due to impending sea level rise.
Shahee Ilyas/Wikimedia commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
A SPACE TELESCOPE IS BORN From the start, the Hubble Space Telescope (seen being released from the cargo bay of the space shuttle Discovery on April 25, 1990) has survived many potentially career-ending scares.
NASA
Science News
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The first observed wimpy supernova may have birthed a neutron star duo
Scientists have spotted a faint, fast supernova for the first time, possibly explaining how pairs of dense stellar corpses called neutron stars form.
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Gene editing creates mice with two biological dads for the first time
Scientists have used CRISPR/Cas9 to make mice with two biological fathers.
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Science Visualized
See these dazzling images of a growing mouse embryo
A new microscope creates intimate home movies of mice embryos taking shape, and could shed light on the mysterious process of mammalian development.
Feature
The SN 10: These scientists defy limits to tackle big problems
With a drive to understand how things work, these young researchers are making a mark in sustainable energy, medicine, astronomy and technology.
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If the past is a guide, Hubble’s new trouble won’t doom the space telescope
Hubble is in safe mode, but astronomers are optimistic that the observatory will keep working.
News in Brief
What bees did during the Great American Eclipse
A rare study of bees during a total solar eclipse finds that the insects buzzed around as usual — until totality.
50 Years Ago
50 years ago, a 550-year-old seed sprouted
Old seeds can sprout new plants even after centuries of dormancy.
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These light-loving bacteria may survive surprisingly deep underground
Traces of cyanobacteria DNA suggest that the microbes live deep below Earth’s surface.
News in Brief
Nearly 2 million U.S. adult nonsmokers vape
A new study finds that an estimated 1.9 million U.S. adult nonsmokers use e-cigarettes, highlighting worries that the devices are addictive.
Reviews & Previews
‘Sawbones’ invites readers to laugh at the bizarre history of medicine
‘The Sawbones Book,’ based on the popular podcast by Dr. Sydnee and Justin McElroy, ties the strange history of modern medicine to modern pseudoscience.
News
How your brain is like a film editor
A brain structure called the hippocampus may slice our continuous existence into discrete chunks that can be stored as memories.
News in Brief
The economics of climate change and tech innovation win U.S. pair a Nobel
Climate change and tech innovations inspired the new Nobel Memorial Prize winners in Economic Sciences.
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Spiky ice spires may stud the equator of Jupiter’s moon Europa
Fields of jagged ice spires, if they exist, could affect where future spacecraft land on the Jovian moon.
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Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees versus 2 has big benefits, the IPCC says
A new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change compares the impact of warming targets on extreme weather, sea level rise and habitat loss.
Reviews & Previews
‘Einstein’s Shadow’ explores what it takes to snap a black hole’s picture
The new book offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Event Horizon Telescope’s attempt to image a black hole.
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The universe’s continued existence implies extra dimensions are tiny
The strictest limits yet on the size of extra dimensions come from the fact that black holes haven't destroyed the universe.
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A new ultrafast laser emits pulses of light 30 billion times a second
A new technique allows lasers to pulsate at a higher rate than ever before.
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City size and structure may influence influenza epidemics
The size and structure of cities helps shape the progression of new influenza cases during a flu season, a new study finds.
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Saturn’s ‘ring rain’ is a surprising cocktail of chemicals
NASA’s Cassini probe got a closeup view of the material falling from Saturn’s rings into the planet. The data could help illuminate the belts’ origins.
News in Brief
How wind power could contribute to a warming climate
If the United States had enough wind turbines to generate all of its power, they would warm the country by 0.24 degrees Celsius on average.
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Speeding up evolution to create useful proteins wins the chemistry Nobel
The three winners, which include the fifth woman to win the chemistry prize, pioneered techniques used to fashion customized proteins for new biofuels and drugs.
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Lemur study suggests why some fruits smell so fruity
A new test with lemurs and birds suggests there’s more to fruit odors than simple ripening.
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Hubble may have spotted the first known exomoon
A single sighting with the Hubble Space Telescope seems to confirm that there’s a Neptune-sized moon orbiting exoplanet Kepler 1625b.
News in Brief
A 90,000-year-old bone knife hints special tools appeared early in Africa
The discovery of a bone knife in a Moroccan cave points to the ancient emergence of specialized toolmaking in the region.