Radio Ghosts Have Haunted the Airwaves for Nearly a Century

No one knows who or what is responsible for long-delayed echoes in radio transmissions. By Daniel Oberhaus.
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Why Are Old Women Often The Face Of Evil In Fairy Tales And Folklore?

Evil stepmothers, witches and crones: When they aren't poisoning princesses, they're mangling mermaids or trying to eat children. One writer traces these villains' roots to a fear of female power. By Elizabeth Blair.
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What's the Point If We Can’t Have Fun?

My friend June Thunderstorm and I once spent a half an hour sitting in a meadow by a mountain lake, watching an inchworm dangle from the top of a stalk of grass... By David Graeber.
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NASA Adds to Evidence of Mysterious Ancient Earthworks

High in the skies over Kazakhstan, space-age technology has revealed an ancient mystery on the ground. Satellite pictures of a remote and treeless northern steppe reveal colossal earthworks — geometric figures of squares, crosses, lines and rings the size of several football fields, recognizable only from the air and the oldest estimated at 8,000 years old.
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The Illusion of Taste

Sitting in a pub one night a dozen years ago, Charles Spence realized that he was in the presence of the ideal experimental model: the Pringles potato chip. Spence, a professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University, runs the Crossmodal Research Lab there, which studies how the brain integrates information from the five human senses to produce a coherent impression of reality. Very often, these modes of perception influence one another on the way...
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Is desalination the future of drought relief in California?

San Diego is set to soon start supplying itself with millions of gallons a day of fresh, drinkable water, using saltwater from the Pacific Ocean, converted by a brand new desalination plant. As California's historic drought continues, the plant will likely intensify the debate over the role of desalination may play in the state's water supply. Special Correspondent Mike Taibbi reports.
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Why daylight saving time could be even more awesome than you think

Making daylight saving time permanent -- by never "falling back" again -- could save the country billions a year in social costs by reducing rapes and robberies that take place in the evening hours, according to a forthcoming paper by researchers at the Brookings Institution and Cornell University. In 2007, Congress increased the period of daylight saving time (DST henceforth) by four weeks, adding three weeks in the spring and one in the fall.
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Excitement Grows as NASA Carbon Sleuth Begins Year Two

Scientists poring over data from NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 mission are seeing patterns emerge as they seek answers to questions about atmospheric carbon dioxide.
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New design points a path to the ‘ultimate’ battery

Lithium-oxygen batteries have been touted as the ‘ultimate’ battery due to their theoretical energy density, which is ten times that of a lithium-ion battery. The demonstrator relies on a highly porous, ‘fluffy’ carbon electrode made from graphene.
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Russian plane 'completely destroyed' in Egypt crash

Search and rescue officer says all 224 passengers and crew on flight from Sharm el-Sheikh likely to have died in Sinai crash
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Vampire Moths Suck the Blood of Vertebrates, Including Humans

Vampire moths can pierce the thick hides of animals such as buffalo, tapirs, and elephants.
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How to Cut Coffee's Bitterness

Coffee is my go-to choice for a cognitive boost. I enjoy a morning cup of joe (almost every alternate day), but like a lot of people I’m not a fan of coffee’s bitter flavor. So to mask it, apart from adding lots of milk, I guiltily dump in a sugar cube (or maybe two). I’m not alone. Even connoisseurs of coffee, such as the Specialty Coffee Association of America, treat bitterness as a defect, describing it as “caustic,” “phenolic,” “creosol,” and “alkaline.” So, recently when my...
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Ion Engine Breakthrough Could Take Us To Mars At A Fraction Of The Fuel

A group of French physicists has optimized a type of ion thruster to significantly extend its lifetime: the new development made it sturdy enough to be able withstand a long trip into deep space. Such a thruster would require 100 million times less fuel than common thrusters that use chemical reactions to propel a spacecraft forward.
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They’re Here: The First Shots of Cassini’s Enceladus Flyby

The Cassini probe flew through geysers spewing out of Saturn's moon Enceladus. Today, it sent home pics.
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The case for magic

There simply are some unseen elements in life that defy scientific cause and effect. By Ross Kenneth Urken.
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Scientists have found a big reason we should be drinking more whole milk

The "Dietary Guidelines for Americans" have recommended for decades that people steer clear of whole milk, but recently the scientific support for that guidance has been eroding, and new research published Thursday underscored the idea that millions of people might have been healthier had they ignored the government's advice. The research, published in the Journal of Nutrition, finds that people who consume full-fat dairy products such as whole milk are less likely to...
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They Might Sound Gross, But Intestinal Worms Can Actually Be Good Tor You

Intestinal worms have an incredibly bad reputation. The thought of them sneaking around inside our bodies and eating us from the inside is pretty unpleasant. But just 100 years ago, before toilets and running water were commonplace, everybody had regular exposure to intestinal worms. Thanks in part to modern plumbing, people in the industrialized world have now lost almost all of their worms, with the exception of occasional pinworms in some children.
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This Is Why You Hate the Sound of Your Own Voice on Recordings

This is why your "phone voice" sounds different and worse.
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Mystery bright spots could be first glimpse of another universe

Light given off by hydrogen shortly after the big bang has left some unexplained bright patches in space. Are they evidence of bumping into another universe?
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For the future of solar, we’ve got the tech—it’s the economics, stupid

In the US, the future of solar energy will be made in California. Earlier this month, the state's governor signed legislation that commits California to obtaining half of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. And to some extent, that future is now—the state's utilities are working to meet a goal of one-third renewables by 2020.
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Zombie Physics: 6 Baffling Results That Just Won’t Die

To celebrate Halloween, Nature brings you the undead results that physicists can neither prove—nor lay to rest.
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Spirals in dust around young stars may betray presence of massive planets

A team of astronomers is proposing that huge spiral patterns seen around some newborn stars, merely a few million years old (about one percent our sun's age), may be evidence for the presence of giant unseen planets.
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Drones Captured These ‘Killer’ Whale Family Portraits

Not just beautiful, these photos show that raising killer whale calves is a family affair. By Erin Blakemore.
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22 Ancient Shipwrecks Discovered Near Greek Island

Shipwrecks were the stuff of lore around the craggy coasts of Fourni, a Greek archipelago close to Turkey in the eastern Aegean Sea. By day 5, the researchers had discovered evidence of nine more sunken ships. "I think we were all shocked," said Peter Campbell, co-director of the project from the U.S.-based RPM Nautical Foundation.
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How a face comes to represent a whole person in the brain

The sight of a face offers the brain something special. More than a set of features, it conveys the emotions, intent, and identity of the whole individual. The same is not true for the body; cues such as posture convey some social information, but the image of a body does not substitute for a face.
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Greater than the sum of its parts

It is rare for a new animal species to emerge in front of scientists’ eyes. But this seems to be happening in eastern North America.
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The benefits of getting older

Most of us dread getting older. But there’s mounting evidence that old age brings happiness, intellect and even better sex.
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Why Tesla’s Autopilot and Google’s car are entirely different animals

In the buzz over the Tesla autopilot update, a lot of commentary has appeared comparing this Autopilot with Google’s car effort and other efforts and what I would call a “real” robocar — one that can operate unmanned or with a passenger who is not paying attention to the road. We’ve seen claims that “Tesla has beaten Google to the punch,” but while the Tesla release is a worthwhile step forward, the two should not be confused as all that similar.
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Breaking the mould: Untangling the jelly-like properties of diseased proteins

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have identified a new property of essential proteins which, when it malfunctions, can cause the build up, or ‘aggregation’, of misshaped proteins and lead to serious diseases.
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The Riddler

Meet the Marquis de Sade of the puzzle world. A 2002 profile of Henry Hook, the world’s best crossword puzzler, who died this week.
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Biological concrete for constructing 'living' building materials with lichens, mosses

The Structural Technology Group has developed and patented a type of biological concrete that supports the natural, accelerated growth of pigmented organisms. The material, which has been designed for the façades of buildings or other constructions in Mediterranean climates, offers environmental, thermal and aesthetic advantages over other similar construction solutions. The material improves thermal comfort in buildings and helps to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels.
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Scientists: Warming ocean factor in collapse of cod fishery

PORTLAND, Maine - The rapid warming of waters off New England is a key factor in the collapse of the region's cod fishery..the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland, said the gulf is warming at a rate 99 percent faster than anywhere else in the world, .
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'1st Hardware Store in Space': Commercial 3D Printer Launching in 2016

California-based startup Made In Space is partnering with home-improvement giant Lowe's to launch a commercial 3D printer to the International Space Station (ISS) early next year, representatives of both companies announced today
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Sleep Paralysis Is an Inescapable Waking Nightmare

Once, when I was 17, I woke up in the dark and couldn’t move. I could hear, at least. That’s why I was awake to begin with: someone was banging on the front door in the middle of the night, insistent, sharp, angry. I could see, too. My eyes were open to the ceiling above me. My head, though, was locked into position by some invisible vise. I tried to yell, to warn my parents about the angry intruder outside, and the...
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Did this sleepy village stop the Black Death?

Today, tourists amble through the pretty village of Eyam. But 450 years ago, during the plague, the town’s terrible sacrifice meant its streets were filled with the wails of the dying.
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Inside the Wesleyan Molly Bust

A pair of neuroscience majors helped their fellow students experiment with MDMA and other drugs — but at what price? By Emily Greenhouse.
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A tumor stole every memory I had. This is what happened when it all came back

When a brain tumor he was born with suddenly began to grow, he was lost in amnesia, dementia and depression. A miracle surgeon gave him a second chance at life. By Demetri Kofinas.
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30th October 1938 - Welles scares nation

Orson Welles causes a nationwide panic with his broadcast of “War of the Worlds”—a realistic radio dramatization of a Martian invasion of Earth.
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The hallucinogens that might have sparked the Salem Witch Trials

Witches and Bread? Spooky!
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Cancer-fighting viruses win approval

An engineered herpesvirus that provokes an immune response against cancer has become the first treatment of its kind to be approved for use in the United States, paving the way for a long-awaited class of therapies. On 27 October, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a genetically engineered virus called talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) to treat advanced melanoma. Four days earlier, advisers to the European Medicines Agency had endorsed the drug.
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Google’s Project Loon internet balloons to circle [part of the] Earth

Google says it will soon have a string of 300 internet-beaming balloons circling the Earth, as three Indonesian firms agree to join its trials. By Leo Kelion.
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Electric eels curve bodies to heighten their shock value

Electric eels can wield their zapping power in subtle and surprising ways. A new study finds that when dealing with struggling or hard-to-subdue prey, these eels bend their bodies into a horseshoe-like shape to more than double the voltage they deliver to their almost-meal. By Amina Khan.
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Faxes From the Far Side

On the 10th of January 1956--about a decade into the Cold War and about a year into the Space Race--the United States Air Force launched the first vehicle in its top secret Genetrix program. The vehicle was a balloon—an enormous, 200-foot-tall, 100-foot-wide helium balloon—the first of hundreds... By Alan Bellows.
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The Science of Cheating

Are we meant to be a monogamous species?
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How do hard drives work?

The modern hard drive is an object that can likely hold more information than your local library. But how does it store so much information in such a small space? Kanawat Senanan details the generations of engineers, material scientists, and quantum physicists who influenced the creation of this incredibly powerful and precise tool.
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A brief history of our desire to peer into the brain

Our attempts to unlock the secrets of the mind range from the pseudoscience of “bumpology” to the surprising part played by The Beatles.
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Strengthening Cyclone Chapala Targets Oman and Yemen

Strengthening Tropical Cyclone Chapala is expected to target Oman and Yemen early next week.
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A marriage made in heaven

Grilling meat gives it great flavour. This taste, though, comes at a price, since the process creates molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which damage DNA and thus increase the eater’s chances of developing colon cancer. For those who think barbecues one of summer’s great delights, that is a shame. But a group of researchers led by Isabel Ferreira of the University of Porto, in Portugal, think they have found a way around the problem.
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The Art of Inventing Dothraki

Inside the world of lexicographers who create languages like Dothraki, Elvish, and Klingon. By Josephine Livingstone.
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The Rhythm of the Tide

When I heard data from an island had proven humans are still evolving, I had to visit. By Scott Solomon.
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