SUFFOCATING SEA The effects of low-oxygen conditions on seafloor communities linger even when oxygen returns, suggests a new study comparing oxygen and ecological activity in the Black Sea (shown).
RussAsanov/iStockphoto
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Magazine
In the Feb. 18 SN: Anniversary of a celebrity supernova, readying for the next stellar explosion, human-animal chimeras, hottest year on record, molecules tied in knots, cancer results don’t reproduce and more.
Science News
News
Physically abused kids learn to fail at social rules for success
What physically abused kids learn about rewards at home can lead to misbehavior elsewhere.
News
Supernova spotted shortly after explosion
Early observations of exploding star could indicate that stars become unstable as they near death.
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The Name Game
Coral reef crab named after Harry Potter characters
Bizarre rubble-dwelling crab named after critter collector and Harry Potter characters.
Feature
30 years later, supernova 1987A is still sharing secrets
The 1987 explosion of a star near the Milky Way 30 years ago set off years of fascinating findings.
News in Brief
Rapid Ebola test to detect early infection in the works
Scientists are developing highly specific antibodies to detect Ebola sooner.
Feature
When a nearby star goes supernova, scientists will be ready
Scientists hope to detect neutrinos and gravitational waves from a nearby supernova.
News
Fleeting dead zones can muck with seafloor life for decades
Low-oxygen conditions can fundamentally disrupt seafloor ecosystems and increase carbon burial, new research shows.
News
Ricin poisoning may one day be treatable with new antidote
Mice treated with a blend of antibodies survived even when treated days after exposure to ricin.
News in Brief
Cold plasma puts the chill on norovirus
A new device uses cold plasma to kill foodborne pathogens.
News
Malaria molecule makes blood extra-alluring to mosquitoes
Scientists have identified a molecule that draws mosquitoes to malaria-infected blood.
News
Horse evolution bucks evolutionary theory
Horse evolution doesn’t fit classic scenario of trait evolution.
News
Young penguins follow false food cues
Juvenile African penguins are being trapped in barren habitats, led astray by biological cues that are no longer reliable because of human activity.
News
Number of species depends how you count them
Genetic evidence alone may overestimate numbers of species, researchers warn.
News in Brief
Zika virus ‘spillback’ into primates raises risk of future human outbreaks
Spillback of Zika virus into monkeys may complicate eradication efforts.
News
Middling black hole may be hiding in star cluster
A black hole with about 2,200 times the mass of the sun has been detected. If confirmed, it could represent a new type of gas-starved black holes and hint at how supermassive ones may form.
Science Visualized
Observers caught these stars going supernova
Thirty years ago, astronomers witnessed a nearby stellar explosion, but it wasn’t the first. Humanity has been recording local supernovas for nearly two millennia.
News in Brief
Smashing gold ions creates most swirly fluid ever
Collisions of gold ions create a fluid with more vorticity than any other known.
Reviews & Previews
Mysteries of time still stump scientists
The new book "Why Time Flies" is an exploration of how the body perceives time.
News
Hot nests, not vanishing males, are bigger sea turtle threat
Climate change overheating sea turtle nestlings may be a greater danger than temperature-induced shifts in their sex ratios.
For Daily Use
Weekend warriors put up a fight against death
Weekend warriors shove all their weekly activity into just one or two days, and it’s still enough to reduce mortality risk.
News
Long-lasting mental health isn’t normal
Those who stay mentally healthy from childhood to middle age are exceptions to the rule.
Rethink
Pectoral sandpipers go the distance, and then some
Even after a long migration, male pectoral sandpipers keep flying, adding 3,000 extra kilometers on quest for mates.
News
Oxygen flooded Earth’s atmosphere earlier than thought
The Great Oxidation Event that enabled the eventual evolution of complex life began 100 million years earlier than once thought, new dating of South African rock suggests.
Teaser
For calmer chickens, bathe eggs in light
Shining light on incubating eggs leads to calmer adult chickens, a study suggests.
News
Faint, distant galaxies may have driven early universe makeover
Gravitational lensing has revealed extremely faint galaxies in the early universe, suggesting these tiny galaxies were responsible for cosmic reionization.
Reviews & Previews
‘Cannibalism’ chronicles grisly science of eating your own
In "Cannibalism", a zoologist explores a grisly topic that scientists have only recently begun to study seriously.
Reviews & Previews
Artist’s amnesia could help unlock mysteries of memory
In "The Perpetual Now", journalist Michael Lemonick looks at what an artist’s memory loss can teach neuroscientists about the brain.
News
DNA points to millennia of stability in East Asian hunter-fisher population
Ancient hunter-gatherers in East Asia are remarkably similar, genetically, to modern people living in the area. Unlike what happened in Western Europe, this region might not have seen waves of farmers take over.