Sodium valproate is an effective epilepsy drug, but it isn’t recommended to take during pregnancyMiljan Zivkovic/Shutterstock The drug rapamycin could prevent the epilepsy medication sodium valproate from causing developmental problems during pregnancy. Sodium valproate is used to treat epilepsy, bipolar...
Ants produce formic acid to defend themselves, and this acid can cause milk to coagulateWILDLIFE GmbH / Alamy Simply placing as few as four live ants into a container of milk provides enough microbes, enzymes and acids to kickstart the...
We can detect signals from black holes merging – but could we also pick up traces of more exotic collisions?VICTOR DE SCHWANBERG / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Gravitational wave signals that seem to emanate from black hole collisions may actually come...
October 3, 20243 min readHow ‘River Piracy’ Helped Give Mount Everest a Growth SpurtA model suggests a massive uplift caused by a phenomenon called “river piracy” partly explains Everest’s impressive heightBy Michael Marshall & Nature magazineMount Everest is unusually high,...
Climate change, global pandemics, bioterrorism, nuclear warfare, artificial intelligence run amok—today’s world offers no shortage of homegrown existential risks to worry about. But one of the most worrisome hazards doesn’t come from Earth at all. Rather, it’s from the astronomical...
While the persistence and curiosity of a researcher is necessary for this step, serendipity also plays a part in this process. Translator and novelist Anton Hur once told me that there is a book out there waiting for you to...
October 2, 20243 min readDebate Linguistics Reveals the Politics at Play in the 2024 ElectionLinguist and sociophonetician Nicole Holliday analyzes the language used by candidates in the recent presidential and vice presidential debatesBy Kelso Harper In election debates, language matters....
October 3, 20245 min readThe Next President Faces Tough Nuclear Weapons DeadlinesWhoever wins the 2024 presidential election will face heightened nuclear geopolitics, deadlines on nuclear deals with Russia and Iran and decisions on a $2-trillion weapons-modernization effortBy Daniel Vergano Amid...
October 2, 20244 min readLargest Brain Map Ever Reveals Fruit Fly’s Neurons in Exquisite DetailWiring diagram lays out connections between nearly 140,000 neurons and reveals new types of nerve cellBy Sara Reardon & Nature magazine50 largest neurons of the fly...
Can AI design a chip that’s more efficient than human-made ones?Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images Google DeepMind says its artificial intelligence has helped design chips that are already being used in data centres and even smartphones. But some chip design experts are...
