ALIEN ASTEROID This artist’s representation of interstellar asteroid ‘Oumuamua shows its unusual shape: 400 meters long and just about 40 meters wide. No asteroids in the solar system are shaped like that.
M. Kornmesser/European Southern Observatory
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Magazine
In the Dec. 9 SN: Lessons from the Pliocene, searching for new ways to fight MS, a supernova on repeat, the great gene drive debate, spider sleep secrets, an ailing boy gets new skin, kleptopredation and more.
IT’S ALIVE Living bacteria can give 3-D printed materials special powers, such as producing form-fitting wound dressings. Here, such a material is printed on a doll’s face and stained to fluoresce blue.
Manuel Schaffner and Patrick A. Rühs
SHELL-A-VISION The fleshy part of a scallop is studded with dozens (or in some species, hundreds) of eyes, each containing an intricate mosaic mirror.
ShaneKato/iStockphoto
SMASH HIT The recently detected violent collision of two neutron stars (illustrated) is helping scientists understand the strange stuff that makes up the incredibly dense objects.
Mark Garlick/University of Warwick
Science News
Science Visualized
How freezing a soap bubble turns it into a ‘snow globe’
Frigid air makes soap bubbles shimmering orbs thanks to surface tension.
News
New setup for image recognition AI lets a program think on its feet
Researchers are revamping image recognition programs to better identify familiar objects in new situations.
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News
In a first, Galileo’s gravity experiment is re-created in space
A key principle of general relativity holds up in a new space-based test.
Feature
Scientists are seeking new strategies to fight multiple sclerosis
Facing so many unknowns about multiple sclerosis, researchers explore the immune system, the neurons and the gut to fight the disease.
News
New 3-D printed materials harness the power of bacteria
The three-dimensional materials contain live bacteria and could generate wound dressings or clean up pollutants.
Feature
What the Pliocene epoch can teach us about future warming on Earth
By simulating the changes that occurred during the warm Pliocene epoch, researchers are trying to predict Earth’s future hundreds of years from now.
News
We still don’t know where the first interstellar asteroid came from
Astronomers are tracking stars to see if one of them launched the first interstellar asteroid at Earth.
News
Collision illuminates the mysterious makeup of neutron stars
Scientists size up neutron stars using gravitational waves and light.
News
Scallops’ amazing eyes use millions of tiny, square crystals to see
Each of a scallop’s many eyes contains an intricate mirror made from millions of crystals.
News
Jackpot of fossilized pterosaur eggs unearthed in China
A treasure trove of pterosaur eggs and embryos gives tantalizing clues to the winged reptile’s early development.
News
Bats in China carry all the ingredients to make a new SARS virus
Viruses infecting bats could recombine to re-create SARS.
It's Alive
Studying giant tortoise flips without tipping the animals over is a delicate business
Giant tortoise shells go domed or saddlebacked, but which is better when navigating treacherous ground?
50 Years Ago
50 years ago, folate deficiency was linked to birth defects
50 years ago, scientists found that a lack of folic acid in pregnant women could cause birth defects. But now, how much is too much?
News
Strong-armed women helped power Europe’s ancient farming revolution
Intensive manual labor gave ancient farm women arms that female rowers today would envy.
News
Testosterone may be one reason why men don’t get asthma as much as women
Adult women have higher rates of asthma than men, and testosterone’s effect on the immune system may partly explain that difference.
News
Most blue whales are ‘righties,’ except for this one move
Though many blue whales tend to be “right-handed” when hunting for krill, one specific barrel roll move requires a lefty twist.
News in Brief
In the deep ocean, these bacteria play a key role in trapping carbon
Mysterious nitrite-oxidizing bacteria capture more carbon than previously thought and may be the primary engine at the base of the deep ocean’s food web.
Mystery Solved
Here’s what really happened to Hanny’s Voorwerp
Glowing clouds of gas known as Hanny’s Voorwerp offer a way to study galaxies and black holes in the distant past.
News in Brief
Hidden hoard hints at how ancient elites protected the family treasures
A secret stash at an ancient site in Israel called Megiddo illuminates the Iron Age practice of hoarding wealth.
News
Rough lessons can lessen the pull of human scent on a mosquito
A form of aversion therapy for mosquitoes shows they can connect human scent to a bad experience.
News
‘Arrow of time’ reversed in quantum experiment
In quantum systems, heat can flow “backward,” from cold to hot.
Film
Actress Hedy Lamarr laid the groundwork for some of today’s wireless tech
‘Bombshell’ tells the story of Hedy Lamarr’s double life as a Hollywood starlet and tech inventor.
Reviews & Previews
Climate foiled Europeans’ early exploration of North America
The book ‘A Cold Welcome’ examines how the Little Ice Age and other climatic and geographic factors shaped colonial history.
For Daily Use
Step away from the cookie dough. E. coli outbreaks traced to raw flour
Flour, though low in moisture, can sicken people with E. coli toxins if it is eaten raw.