Vol. 203 No. 7
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cover of April 8, 2023 issue

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More Stories from the April 8, 2023 issue

  1. A photo of several plants in brown pots sitting on a large table.
    Life

    Plant/animal hybrid proteins could help crops fend off diseases

    Pikobodies, bioengineered proteins that are part plant and part animal (thanks, llamas), loan plant immune systems a uniquely animal trait: flexibility.

    By Erin Garcia de Jesús
  2. A juvenile bigclaw snapping shrimp in a lab dish next to a ruler
    Animals

    The fastest claw in the sea belongs to young snapping shrimp

    When juveniles snap their claws shut to create imploding bubbles, they create the fastest accelerating underwater movements of any reusable body part.

    By Jake Buehler
  3. An illustration of a rover exploring a lava tube with light streaming through the top
    Tech

    A trick inspired by Hansel and Gretel could help rovers explore other worlds

    Taking a cue from a classic fairy tale, scientists propose a way for rovers to send back data from treacherous terrain.

    By Allison Gasparini
  4. A view of the Earth from space with several white dots, representing Starlink satellites, forming a ring around it.
    Astronomy

    Half of all active satellites are now from SpaceX. Here’s why that may be a problem

    Of the roughly 7,300 active satellites in Earth orbit, about 3,600 are part of SpaceX’s growing fleet of Starlink internet satellites.

    By Lisa Grossman
  5. A group of people of various races and ethnicities crossing a street
    Genetics

    Why experts recommend ditching racial labels in genetic studies

    Racial labels don’t explain biological and genetic diversity but do cause stigma. They belong “in the dustbin of history,” a panel of experts says.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  6. A photo of a woman getting a mammogram while a doctor helps position her with the machine.
    Health & Medicine

    My mammogram revealed I have dense breasts. What does that mean?

    Nearly half of U.S. women have dense breasts. A new FDA rule makes notification of breast density national. Here’s the scoop on why.

    By Aimee Cunningham
  7. A photo of a small brown mouse running across a gray floor.
    Neuroscience

    In mice, anxiety isn’t all in the head. It can start in the heart

    Scientists used optogenetics to raise the heartbeat of a mouse, making it anxious. The finding could offer a new angle for studying anxiety disorders.

    By Bethany Brookshire
  8. An image of Maat Mons on Venus based on data from spacecraft. A yellow mountain rises up on a black background with a brown area in the foreground.
    Planetary Science

    A volcano on Venus was spotted erupting in decades-old images

    A new look at old data reveals an eruption on Venus in the 1990s that was probably similar to Hawaii’s Kilauea eruption in 2018.

    By Lisa Grossman
  9. An overhead photo of a skeleton.
    Archaeology

    The Yamnaya may have been the world’s earliest known horseback riders

    5,000-year-old Yamnaya skeletons show physical signs of horseback riding, hinting that they may be the earliest known humans to do so.

    By McKenzie Prillaman
  10. A closeup photo of a small semi-transparent stone in the shape of an arrowhead held between a person's index finger and thumb.
    Archaeology

    Homo sapiens may have brought archery to Europe about 54,000 years ago

    Small stone points found in a French rock-shelter could have felled prey only as tips of arrows shot from bows, scientists say.

    By Bruce Bower
  11. Three long-tailed macaque monkeys appear to be pounding open oil plam nut with rocks.
    Archaeology

    Some monkeys accidentally make stone flakes that resemble ancient hominid tools

    A study of Thailand macaques raises questions about whether some Stone Age cutting tools were products of planning or chance.

    By Bruce Bower
  12. A photo of a fossil with two dark brown pieces attached to the shell.
    Paleontology

    520-million-year-old animal fossils might not be animals after all

    Newly described fossils of Protomelission gatehousei suggest that the species, once thought to be the oldest example of bryozoans, is actually a type of colony-forming algae.

    By Sid Perkins
  13. a group of bees are photographed from above doing their waggle dance
    Life

    Honeybees waggle to communicate. But to do it well, they need dance lessons

    Young honeybees can’t perfect waggling on their own after all. Without older sisters to practice with, youngsters fail to nail distances.

    By Susan Milius
  14. A photo of several different breeds of dogs standing on concrete.
    Animals

    What the first look at the genetics of Chernobyl’s dogs revealed

    Dogs living in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant industrial area are genetically distinct from other dogs, but scientists don’t yet know if radiation is the reason.

    By Meghan Rosen
  15. a huge column of smoke reaching into the stratosphere over Australia
    Climate

    How wildfires deplete the Earth’s ozone layer

    Scientists detail the chain of chemical reactions that occur when wildfire smoke enters the stratosphere.

    By Carolyn Gramling
  16. An illustration of Earth's center with lines running through it from on overlay map of North America.
    Earth

    Earth’s inner core may be more complex than researchers thought

    Seismic waves suggest that Earth has a hidden heart, a distinct region within the solid part of the planet’s core.

    By Carolyn Gramling