Environment
The world has water problems. This book has solutions
The Last Drop tackles global water problems and explores how humans can better manage the precious resource.
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Cover Story
Ximena Velez-Liendo is saving Andean bears with honey
By training beekeepers, biologist Ximena Velez-Liendo is helping rural agricultural communities of southern Bolivia coexist with Andean bears.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Humans
World record speeds for two Olympics events have fallen over time. We can go faster
The human body can go faster in the 100-meter dash and the 50-meter freestyle. But to reach full potential, our technique must be perfect.
Notebook
Animals
A built-in pocket protector keeps sawfish from ‘sword fighting’ in the womb
What’s to prevent pups, with a snout that resembles a hedge trimmer, from slicing and dicing each other in mom’s uterus? Scientists have the answer.
Features
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AI’s understanding and reasoning skills can’t be assessed by current tests
Assessing whether large language models — including the one that powers ChatGPT — have humanlike cognitive abilities will require better tests.
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Malnutrition’s effects on the body don’t end when food arrives
Children may struggle with inflammation, a weakened immune system and gut problems. New treatments may repair some damage.
More Stories from the July 13, 2024 issue
- Health & Medicine
Honeybees can “smell” lung cancer
Bees can detect the scent of lung cancer in lab-grown cells and synthetic breath. One day, bees may be used to screen people’s breath for cancer.
- Life
This protist unfolds its ‘neck’ up to 30 times its body length to scout prey
With geometry’s help, 'Lacrymaria olor' can extend its long, necklike protrusion in less than 30 seconds.
- Quantum Physics
Physicists measured Earth’s rotation using quantum entanglement
The experiment is a step toward testing how quantum physics interfaces with gravity.
- Paleontology
‘Echidnapus’ hints at a lost age of egg-laying mammals
The fossil discoveries double the number of known monotreme species during the Cretaceous Period.
- Earth
Geoscientists found the most dangerous part of a famous West Coast fault
Seismic data reveal that the Cascadia megathrust consists of at least four segments, the most dangerous of which may lurk offshore of Washington.
- Animals
Can leeches leap? New video may help answer that debate
For some, it’s the stuff of nightmares. But a grad student’s serendipitous cell phone video might resolve a long-running debate over leech acrobatics.
- Astronomy
We may finally know the source of mysterious high-energy neutrinos
Regions around supermassive black holes in active galaxies could produce a lot of these mysterious particles.
- Genetics
Horses may have been domesticated twice. Only one attempt stuck
Genetic evidence suggests that the ancestors of domestic horses were bred for mobility about 4,200 years ago.
- Space
Astronomers watch a supermassive black hole turn on for the first time
A galaxy transitioned from being dim and quiet to bright and active, giving astronomers insight into active galactic nuclei.
- Health & Medicine
Long COVID finally gets a universal definition
If broadly adopted, this inclusive description of long COVID will help legitimize the ongoing struggles millions of people are facing post-infection.
- Anthropology
Fossil finds amplify Europe’s status as a hotbed of great ape evolution
A kneecap and two teeth belonged to the smallest known great ape, a study contends. If so, it’s the first to coexist with another great ape in Europe.
- Health & Medicine
Gen X has higher cancer rates than their baby boomer parents
An unexplained uptick in cancer diagnoses among Gen Xers might be bad news for millennials and Gen Z.
- Space
Human spaceflight’s new era is fraught with medical and ethical questions
A new project called the Space Omics and Medical Atlas aims to study and document astronaut health as commercial spaceflight starts to take off.
- Anthropology
Child sacrifices at famed Maya site were all boys, many closely related
DNA analysis shows victims in one underground chamber at Chichén Itzá included twins, perhaps representing mythological figures.
- Space
50 years ago, scientists were gearing up to hurl a probe at the sun
The Helios mission provided key insights into the sun. Now, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has taken up the mantle, giving scientists unprecedented views of the star.
