Archive

Latest Articles

Q&A

The Maestro of Memory Manipulation

June 23, 2016

The neuroscientist Sheena Josselyn can evoke and erase memories in mice using new tools that precisely control the brain.

The Universe Is Not a Snowflake

June 22, 2016

Nature’s laws are beautiful because they strike a compromise between boring symmetry and confusing asymmetry, physicists say.

How to Grow Metal-Eating Microbes

June 21, 2016

Metal-eating microbes get energy from rocks and could teach us about life on other worlds — but first scientists had to learn how to grow them in the lab.

New Life Found That Lives Off Electricity

June 21, 2016

Scientists have figured out how microbes can suck energy from rocks. Such lifeforms might be more widespread than anyone anticipated.

Interstellar Find Adds Life to Old Debate

June 20, 2016

Figuring out how these molecules form in the deep recesses of interstellar space might illuminate the origins of one of life’s distinguishing features.

Is Infinity Real?

June 16, 2016

Three puzzles test whether the concept of infinity has purchase in the physical world.

LIGO Reports Second Black-Hole Merger

June 15, 2016

The spokesperson for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory called it “a promising start to mapping the populations of black holes in our universe.”

The Downside to Neanderthal DNA

June 14, 2016

How interbreeding among early hominins harmed humans but may have slowed the Neanderthals’ decline.

A Glimpse Through a Cosmic Keyhole

June 14, 2016

What could cause galaxies millions of light years apart to all spew material in the same direction?

Get highlights of the most important news delivered to your email inbox