In 2016, Colombia saw a surge in babies with microcephaly — more than four times the number reported in the previous year. The country documented 476 cases of the debilitating birth defect from January 31 to November 12, researchers note December 9 in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the Centers for Disease Control […]
Hoverboards and certain cell phones powered by lithium-ion batteries occasionally go up in flames. Scientists now have a new plan for squelching these fires before they flare out of control: incorporating a flame retardant in the battery that’s released if temperatures get too toasty. Within lithium-ion batteries, ions travel between positive and negative electrodes through […]
The most distant star ever observed has been spotted, and its light comes from across two-thirds of the universe. That puts the star a whopping 9 billion light-years away. Patrick Kelly at the University of California, Berkeley and his colleagues found the star in Hubble Space Telescope images of a galaxy cluster called MACS J1149. […]
Just as modern cities struggle with lead pollution, so may have ancient Rome. And muddy waters preserved the city’s legacy of lead pipes, a new study suggests. Researchers examined lead levels in dirt drilled from two Roman harbor sites, Ostia and Portus, on the Tiber River. The samples spanned 1000 B.C. to A.D. 1000. Up […]
Meet the house that diapers built. Researchers have designed and erected a house that has shredded, disposable diapers mixed into its concrete and mortar. A single-story home of about 36 square meters can pack nearly 2 cubic meters of used diapers into its floors, columns and walls, the team reports May 18 in Scientific Reports. […]
For more than a decade, psychology has been contending with some of its research findings going up in smoke. Widely publicized attempts to replicate major findings have shown that study results that scientists and the public took for granted might be no more than a statistical fluke. We should, for example, be primed for skepticism […]
As the chill of autumn encroaches on Siberia’s grasslands, Richard’s pipits usually begin their southward trek to warmer latitudes. But a growing number of the slender, larklike songbirds seem to be heading west instead, possibly establishing a new migratory route for the species. This would be the first new route known to emerge on an […]
Regenerating body parts is never easy. For instance, some lizards can grow back their tails, but these new appendages are pale imitations of the original. Now, genetically modified stem cells are helping geckos grow back better tails. Tweaking and implanting embryonic stem cells on the tail stumps of mourning geckos (Lepidodactylus lugubris) allowed the reptiles […]
One of the hottest names in college football coaching searches is officially off the market. Penn State's James Franklin agreed to a deal Tuesday that will keep him at the school for the next 10 years, until 2031. Franklin is in his eighth season leading the Nittany Lions.Franklin had been linked to numerous open coaching […]
Kyle Rittenhouse has been found not guilty. A jury in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Friday found Rittenhouse not guilty of homicide and other charges.On Aug. 25, 2020, Rittenhouse shot at four men, killing two and wounding a third, with a semiautomatic rifle. Rittenhouse was in downtown Kenosha to protect a car dealership during unrest following the […]