Science

a colorful image of a human embryo at Day 11 under a microscope

Model human embryo, created from stem cells, survives past two weeks

A model human embryo capable of developing past day 14 could revolutionize our understanding of human development.

How years of fighting every wildfire helped fuel the Western megafires of today

The current approach to fire management poses unnecessarily high stakes for forests. Here’s why fighting every fire does more harm than good.

Paul Hessburg and Keala Hagmann and Susan J. Prichard

rows of black rock with the gloved hands of a scientist in the background

Planet Earth

Record-breaking amount of Earth’s mantle drilled out of ocean floor

Scientists aboard the JOIDES Resolution have retrieved “a staggering” amount of mantle rock from below the ocean floor.

Kristin Houser

Brain

I took a creativity test, and this is what it told me

Researchers made a creativity test with objective and automated scoring that gives an accurate measure of verbal creativity.

Teresa Carey

Engineering

Microbes inside concrete can warn us about rotting infrastructure

By learning about the bacteria that live inside concrete, scientists hope to develop early warning systems about damage.

B. David Zarley

Paleontology

Clues in woolly mammoth tusk reveal a lifetime of travels

Researchers have reconstructed the life of a woolly mammoth that lived more than 17,000 years ago by deciphering clues hidden in his tusk.

Kristin Houser

Memory

Hungry mice show why you should take study breaks

The spacing effect — a strange phenomenon by which you retain information more readily if you take study breaks — is now less of a mystery.

Kristin Houser

Agriculture

Kenya’s GM cassava plant gets greenlight

Kenya is moving forward with developing a cassava plant that’s been genetically modified to resist cassava brown streak disease.

Kristin Houser

Neuroscience

First neuron-level map of a monkey brain revealed

The first neuron-level 3D image of an entire macaque monkey brain could have a major impact on the world of neuroscience.

Kristin Houser

Genetics

Researchers edit the sugarcane plant’s genome for the first time

Researchers have edited the sugarcane plant with CRISPR for the first time. The gene-edited crop provides an opportunity for quickly developing more eco-friendly sugarcane varieties.

Teresa Carey

Food

Adding one gene to rice and potatoes increased yields by 50%

The insertion of a gene found in animals prompted potato and rice plants to produce 50% more food and exhibit drought-resistant qualities.

Kristin Houser

Neuroscience

Baby mice “dream” about the world before seeing it

Before the eyes of baby mice open, their brains appear to use retinal waves to prep their vision systems to detect objects and motion.

Kristin Houser

Neuroscience

New treatment reverses age-related memory loss in mice

A treatment that reversed age-related memory loss in mice could one day treat or prevent such cognitive decline in older people.

Kristin Houser

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