Life
Fungi may be crucial to storing carbon in soil as the Earth warms
Fungi help soil-making bacteria churn out carbon compounds that are resilient to heat, keeping those compounds in the ground, a study suggests.
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Cover Story
Tree-climbing carnivores called fishers are back in Washington’s forests
Thanks to a 14-year reintroduction effort, fishers, or “tree wolverines,” are once again climbing and hunting in Washington’s forests after fur trapping and habitat loss wiped them out.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Paleontology
This bizarre ancient critter has been kicked out of a group that includes humans
A wee sea creature without an anus was thought to be the oldest deuterostome. New imaging showing it had spines led to its reclassification.
Notebook
Anthropology
How mythology could help demystify dog domestication
The path that dog myths took around the world closely parallels that of dog domestication, a new study finds.
Features
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Big questions inspire the scientists on this year’s SN 10 list
These scientists to watch study climate change, alien worlds, human evolution, the coronavirus and more.
More Stories from the October 8, 2022 issue
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Health & Medicine5 people with lupus are in remission after CAR-T cell treatment
More than six months after CAR-T cell treatment, five patients are in remission and have functional immune systems.
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Earth50 years ago, scientists found a new way to clean up oil spills
In the 1970s, researchers added chemicals to the list of oil spill cleanup methods. Soon, they may add microbes.
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PlantsThe worldwide water-lifting power of plants is enormous
The energy used per year by the world’s plants to lift sap rivals the amount of energy generated by all hydroelectric dams, a new study suggests.
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GeneticsCan’t comb your kid’s hair? This gene may be to blame
Scientists linked variants of one hair shaft gene to most of the uncombable hair syndrome cases they tested.
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EarthIn 2021, a deadly volcano erupted with no warning. Here’s why
Before the Nyiragongo eruption, underground magma was already close to the surface and so didn’t trigger instruments that look for lava movement.
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AnimalsNeed to keep cockatoos out of your trash? Try bricks, sticks or shoes
In Sydney, humans may be in an escalating arms race with cockatoos. People are trying new tools to keep the pesky parrots out of their trash.
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LifeNot all camouflage is equal. Here are prey animals’ best options
When prey masquerade as innocuous objects in the environment, they slow detection from predators by nearly 300 percent.
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PaleontologyLiving fast may have helped mammals like ‘ManBearPig’ dominate
Staying in the womb for a while but being born ready to rock may have helped post-dinosaur mammals take over the planet.
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Planetary ScienceSaturn’s rings and tilt might have come from one missing moon
The hypothetical moon, dubbed Chrysalis, could have helped tip the planet over before getting shredded to form the rings, researchers suggest.
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Planetary SciencePassing through the Milky Way’s arms may have helped form Earth’s solid ground
Barrages of comets stirred up by the early solar system’s journey around the center of the galaxy could explain the timing of ancient rock formation.
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AnthropologyHumans may have started tending animals almost 13,000 years ago
Remnants from an ancient fire pit in Syria suggest that hunter-gatherers were burning dung as fuel by the end of the Old Stone Age.
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AnimalsDNA reveals donkeys were domesticated 7,000 years ago in East Africa
When and where donkeys were domesticated has been a long-standing mystery. DNA now reveals they were tamed much earlier than horses.
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Health & MedicineWho has the highest risk of long COVID? It’s complicated
Long COVID can look different for different people, making it difficult to pinpoint the risk factors behind it.
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Health & MedicineChristopher Barnes is on a quest for a universal coronavirus vaccine
Christopher Barnes wants to stop the viruses that cause COVID-19, the common cold and more.
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AnthropologyTina Lasisi wants to untangle the evolution of human hair
Tina Lasisi is pioneering studies of human variation in an ethical and scientifically sound way.
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Particle PhysicsCarlos Argüelles hunts for particles beyond the standard model
Carlos Argüelles overcame hardship and discrimination to pursue a passion for physics.
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Health & MedicineSmruthi Karthikeyan turned to wastewater to get ahead of COVID-19
Smruthi Karthikeyan’s system for tracking the coronavirus gives lifesaving public health measures a head start.
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EarthJacky Austermann looks to the solid earth for clues to sea level rise
Jacky Austermann’s work could help inform practical climate change solutions for at-risk coastal cities.
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LifeMarcos Simões-Costa asks how cells in the embryo get their identities
Marcos Simões-Costa combines classic studies of developing embryos with the latest genomic techniques.
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ComputingHuijia Lin proved that a master tool of cryptography is possible
Cryptographer Huijia Lin showed that the long-sought “indistinguishability obfuscation” is secure from data attacks.
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ChemistryJosep Cornella breaks boundaries to make new and better catalysts
Josep Cornella reinvents chemical reactions essential for agriculture and the pharmaceutical industry.
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NeuroscienceEmily Jacobs wants to know how sex hormones sculpt the brain
Emily Jacobs studies how the brain changes throughout women’s reproductive years, plus what it all means for health.
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Planetary ScienceRobin Wordsworth re-creates the atmosphere of ancient Mars
Robin Wordsworth studies the climates of Mars and other alien worlds to find out whether they could support life.