The sun’s outer atmosphere is far more complex than previously thought
NEW ORLEANS — Despite its smooth appearance, the sun’s wispy outer atmosphere is surprisingly full of knots, whorls and blobs. Newly analyzed observations from NASA’s STEREO spacecraft show that the…
The science behind kids’ belief in Santa
Over the past week, my little girls have seen Santa in real life at least three times (though only one encounter was close enough to whisper “yo-yo” in his ear).…
Ask AI: How not to kill online conversations
A new artificial intelligence could tell whether your next post to an online forum will engage others or fall flat. Computer scientist Qiaozhu Mei of the University of Michigan in…
Blowflies use drool to keep their cool
SAN FRANCISCO — Blowflies don’t sweat, but they have raised cooling by drooling to a high art. In hot times, sturdy, big-eyed Chrysomya megacephala flies repeatedly release — and then…
Tiny scales in ancient lagoon may be the first fossil evidence of the moth-butterfly line
Newly described little scaly bits could push back the fossil record of the moth-and-butterfly branch on the tree of life by some 70 million years. That raises the question of…
DNA solves the mystery of how these mummies were related
A pair of ancient Egyptian mummies, known for more than a century as the Two Brothers, were actually half brothers, a new study of their DNA finds. These two, high-ranking…
Speed of universe’s expansion remains elusive
Unless you are a recent arrival from another universe, you’ve no doubt heard that this one is expanding. It’s getting bigger all the time. What’s more, its growth rate is…
Lakers vs. Warriors final score, results: Golden State forces Game 6 as Anthony Davis suffers head injury
Faced with a do-or-die situation in Game 5, the Warriors came up big. A 121-106 win at Chase Center kept Golden State's season alive as they successfully avoided elimination at…
Mysterious high-energy particles could come from black hole jets
It’s three for the price of one. A trio of mysterious high-energy particles could all have the same source: active black holes embedded in galaxy clusters, researchers suggest January 22…
Here’s the key ingredient that lets a centipede’s bite take down prey
Knocking out an animal 15 times your size — no problem. A newly identified toxin in the venom of a tropical centipede helps the arthropod to overpower giant prey in…