Climate
‘The Human Element’ makes the impacts of climate change feel real
Photographer James Balog puts a human face on the impacts of climate change in the documentary The Human Element.
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Cover Story
Robots are becoming classroom tutors. But will they make the grade?
Educational robots show promise for helping kids in the classroom or at home, but researchers are still figuring out how these bots should behave.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Animals
This honeybee parasite may be more of a fat stealer than a bloodsucker
Inventing decoy bee larvae prompts a back-to-basics rethink of a mite ominously named Varroa destructor.
Notebook
Agriculture
Prosecco production takes a toll on northeast Italy’s environment
The soil in Northern Italy’s prosecco vineyards is washing away.
Features
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Brain-zapping implants that fight depression are inching closer to reality
Researchers are using electric jolts to correct the faulty brain activity that sparks depression.
More Stories from the February 16, 2019 issue
- Health & Medicine
A new app tracks breathing to detect an opioid overdose
A smartphone app called Second Chance could help save opioid users who shoot up alone.
- Animals
Poison toilet paper reveals how termites help rainforests resist drought
Novel use of poisoned toilet paper rolls and teabags led to discovery that termites help tropical forests resist droughts.
- Psychology
Easing test anxiety boosts low-income students’ biology grades
Wealthier students outperform their less advantaged peers in math and science. Decreasing test anxiety may help even the playing field.
- Health & Medicine
Overdose deaths tied to antianxiety drugs like Xanax continue to rise
Benzodiazepines, widely used but addictive drugs to treat anxiety and insomnia, are contributing to a growing number of overdose deaths.
- Paleontology
A four-legged robot hints at how ancient tetrapods walked
Using fossils, computer simulations and a life-size walking robot, researchers re-created how an early tetrapod may have made tracks.
- Physics
A new gravitational wave detector is almost ready to join the search
Buried deep underground, Japan’s KAGRA detector relies on components cooled to just 20 degrees above absolute zero.
- Physics
Physicists aim to outdo the LHC with this wish list of particle colliders
Proposed new accelerators could solve mysteries of the Higgs boson.
- Animals
Cryptic remains of tiny animals have turned up in an Antarctic lake
Researchers were surprised to find vestiges of what appear to be tiny animals in mud from Antarctica’s ice-covered Lake Mercer.
- Neuroscience
The cerebellum may do a lot more than just coordinate movement
A study in mice finds that the cerebellum helps control social behavior, a result that has implications for autism and schizophrenia.
- Tech
Ordinary cameras can now photograph out-of-sight objects
Thanks to a new photo-analyzing computer program, a photographer’s line of sight no longer has to be a straight shot.
- Animals
Young emperor penguins brave icy, winter waters in their first year
Young emperor penguins learn survival skills on their own, including how to navigate Antarctica’s icy winter ocean.
- Animals
Male birds’ sexy songs may not advertise their brains after all
A biologist backs off an idea he studied for years that the mastery of birdsong is a sign of bird smarts.
- Anthropology
Dogs may have helped ancient Middle Easterners hunt small game
Jordanian finds point to pooch-aided hunting of small prey around 11,500 years ago, offering new clues into dog domestication in the Middle East.
- Animals
50 years ago, DDT pushed peregrine falcons to the edge of extinction
In 1969, peregrine falcons were at risk of extinction. But a ban on the pesticide DDT and new captive breeding programs allowed the raptors to recover.
