It is now five years since clinicians in Wuhan, China, first encountered covid-19 cases in December 2019. Hindsight makes it even clearer how the battle against the disease wasn’t just a fight against a virus, but also a struggle against...
Paul (Timothée Chalamet, right) and Chani (Zendaya) in Dune: Part TwoCourtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures No one, looking back at a year that brought us Madame Web (a Spider-Man spin-off about a clairvoyant) and the director’s cuts of Rebel Moon...
Live rats played and tussled with the robot rodentShutterstock / Bilanol A robotic rat on wheels has learned how to interact with real rats while mimicking the rodents’ play and fight behaviours. “ robotic rats have similar appearances and movements...
Immune cells are vital for our survival, but can turn nasty and attack healthy cellsKATERYNA KON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY As women age, they produce an increasing number of “killer” immune cells, which hunt down and destroy infected cells. This discovery, and...
An artist’s reconstruction of the toddler with his mother consuming mammoth meatEric Carlson/Ben Potter (UAF)/Jim Chatters (McMaster University) An analysis of the bones of a boy who died in what is now Montana 12,800 years ago shows that nearly half...
This brain implant contains tens of thousands of lab-engineered neuronsScience Corporation An experimental brain implant containing tens of thousands of living neurons can form cell connections with the brains of mice. Such a device could eventually enable sophisticated control over...
December 3, 20244 min readWho Is Jared Isaacman, President-Elect Trump’s Pick to Lead NASA?NASA’s presumptive next leader, billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman, already has big plans for the space agencyBy Lee BillingsJared Isaacman, billionaire entrepreneur, philanthropist and private astronaut, is...
In Hawaiian tradition, the souls of the dead journey to the afterlife by jumping from cliffside promontories called “leaping places” into Pō, the swirling sea of time where gods and forebearers dwell. But without the guidance of an‘aumakua—an ancestral spirit...
Chemicals in drip water form records of ancient fires in speleothem cave structuresJay Alder/Oregon State University In the event of a wildfire, flee into the cave. This is the official emergency policy of Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve, a...
Living in the desert is a challenge. But the Mojave desert woodrat has an ace to play: it can eat poison. This allows the cute little rodent to survive and thrive by feeding on toxic creosote bushes. Remarkably, it hasn’t...
