This video was supported by funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. TRANSCRIPT David Johnson: So in 2014, we were on a muddy bank in the marsh up here in Massachusetts, and I saw this small crab scuttle across the mud bank and pop into a hole. And so I dug out the crab, and … Read more
A new treatment for hot flashes brought relief and a better night’s rest for women experiencing these disruptive symptoms during menopause. Two phase 3 clinical trials compared the drug elinzanetant with a placebo at two timepoints. The drug subdued hot flashes quickly: By the fourth week, a majority of those taking the drug reported at … Read more
When strained by earthquakes, underground networks of quartz veins can generate enough voltage to snatch gold from passing fluids, researchers report September 2 in Nature Geoscience. The findings explain how fluids carrying meager amounts of gold can concoct large nuggets, even in chemically inert settings. “You find a 2-meter-wide quartz vein, and there’s a big … Read more
Long dry spells can give a lethal fungal disease a lift. While California droughts can temporarily keep cases of valley fever — a sometimes deadly illness caused by Coccidioides fungi — relatively low, cases skyrocket when rain clouds move back in, researchers report in the October Lancet Regional Health — Americas. Valley fever is on … Read more
A lucky alignment of two sun-studying spacecraft may have finally solved a decades-old solar mystery. Data from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter suggest that plasma waves known as Alfvén waves inject energy into the solar wind as it leaves the sun’s outer atmosphere, potentially explaining why the solar wind … Read more
Scientific clockmakers have crafted a prototype of a nuclear clock, hinting at future possibilities for using atomic nuclei to perform precise measurements of time and make new tests of fundamental physics theories. While the definition of a “clock” is scientifically hazy, the prototype is not yet used to measure time. So it technically should be … Read more
This video was supported by funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. TRANSCRIPT Maria Temming: In 2021, a historic heat wave baked the Pacific Northwest killing hundreds of people and fueling wildfires. Researchers later reported that human-caused climate change made this heat wave at least 150 times more likely. But how do scientists figure out … Read more
Neandertals traveled at least two evolutionary paths on their way to extinction around 40,000 years ago, a new study suggests. Whether classified as a separate species or a variant of Homo sapiens, Neandertals have typically been viewed as a genetically consistent population. But an adult male’s partial skeleton discovered in France contains genetic clues to … Read more
The biggest clash in cosmology might be inching closer to resolution, thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope. Scientists disagree over the universe’s expansion rate, known as the Hubble constant. There are two main methods for measuring it — one based on exploding stars called supernovas and the other on the universe’s oldest light, the … Read more
Extreme Climate Survey Scientific news is collecting questions from readers about how to navigate our planet’s changing climate. What do you want to know about extreme heat and how it can lead to extreme weather events? “[The findings] “It really builds into a picture that’s emerging that’s a little more nuanced of an extinction than … Read more