With temperatures creeping up as the climate warms, those very hungry caterpillars could get even hungrier, and more abundant. Crop losses to pests may grow. Insects will be “eating more of our lunch,” says Curtis Deutsch of the University of Washington in Seattle. Based on how heat revs up insect metabolism and reproduction, he and […]

With Martian skies finally clearing after a massive dust storm, NASA engineers have their fingers crossed that the Opportunity rover will soon phone home. Opportunity has been hunkered down in Mars’ Perseverance Valley since early June, caught in a storm that has grown to envelop the entire Red Planet. Since so little sunlight can reach […]

Wildfires are not known for their restraint. They’ll jump rivers, spew whirling dervishes of flames and double in size overnight. Take the Carr Fire — one of California’s most destructive — sparked in mid-July when the rim of a flat tire met pavement. As the blaze grew, it jumped across the Sacramento River and sparked […]

Superconductors are heating up, and a world record-holder may have just been dethroned. Two studies report evidence of superconductivity — the transmission of electricity without resistance — at temperatures higher than seen before. The effect appears in compounds of lanthanum and hydrogen squeezed to extremely high pressures. All known superconductors must be chilled to function, […]

For the first time, scientists have recorded brain waves from freely moving octopuses. The data reveal some unexpected patterns, though it’s too early to know how octopus brains control the animals’ behavior, researchers report February 23 in Current Biology. “Historically, it’s been so hard to do any recordings from octopuses, even if they’re sedated,” says […]

It’s been three years since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Yet the mystery of how it got started continues to make headlines again and again and to fuel a heated, and oft-time political, debate. While what exactly happened in the earliest days of the pandemic remains an ongoing question, some genetic studies have tipped the scales […]

Within minutes of biting into peanut-tainted food, people with a peanut allergy may find their pulse quickening, blood pressure plummeting and throat closing up. They’re experiencing a rapid and sometimes fatal allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. New research in mice explains how even a small amount of an allergen can quickly trigger such a strong, full-body […]

There’s a big problem where the rubber meets the road: microplastics. Scientists analyzed more than 500 small particles pulled from the air around three busy German highways, and found that the vast majority — 89 percent — came from vehicle tires, brake systems and roads themselves. All together, these particles are classified by the researchers […]

The term “atmospheric river” may sound airy and ethereal, but these massive, fast-moving, drenching storms can hit as hard as a freight train. Since December, the U.S. West has been slammed with back-to-back-to-back atmospheric rivers, the most recent one deluging the state March 15 and another forecast to hit the state in the coming week. […]

To spread misinformation like wildfire, bots will strike a match on social media but then urge people to fan the flames. Automated Twitter accounts, called bots, helped spread bogus articles during and after the 2016 U.S. presidential election by making the content appear popular enough that human users would trust it and share it more […]