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A new map of the human brain during its development in the womb provides a detailed blueprint of where different genes are active at this critical stage of in a fetus’ life. This brain atlas yields clues about what makes humans distinct from other animals, and when disorders like autism first take root, researchers say. “This is another installment in our suite of brain atlases to try to map how all genes are used across the brain and across development,” said study leader Ed Lein, a neuroscientist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle....

In early August, there was a lot of hubbub around a study that purportedly showed that wearing a neck gaiter, the sleeve-like face covering popular especially among runners, might be worse at stemming the spread of COVID-19 than not wearing a mask at all. Headlines popped up spreading the news, sparking conversations far and wide and forcing many to reconsider their preferred style of face mask. A Washington Post story said “some cotton cloth masks are about as effective as surgical masks, while thin polyester spandex gaiters may be worse than going maskless....

Around February 14 every year, millions of people think about how their hearts and minds are intertwined with those of their loved ones. Neuroscientists are also talking about newly discovered links between the blood and brain at the molecular level. Although nerve fibers and blood vessels are closely associated throughout the human body, how this shadowlike pairing becomes established has not been clear. But a report from the recent Society for Neuroscience Meeting in Atlanta announced that a protein familiar to scientists as a powerful stimulant for sprouting blood vessel growth—VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor)—has the same potent effect on nerves....

A radio telescope in Canada has detected 535 fast radio bursts, quadrupling the known tally of these brief, highly energetic phenomena in one go. The long-awaited results show that these enigmatic events come in two distinct types—most bursts are one-off events, with a minority repeating periodically and lasting at least ten times longer on average. The findings strongly suggest that fast radio bursts could be the result of at least two distinct astrophysical phenomena....

SEATTLE—After a year of seemingly endless Zoom meetings, Slack chats and e-mails, nearly 800 particle physicists descended on the University of Washington to share their scientific dreams and nightmares in person. For 10 days at the end of July, whether masked inside conference rooms or sipping coffee beneath unusually sunny Seattle skies, they attempted to build a unified vision of their field’s future. The story of 20th century particle physics is chronicled in the pantheon of elementary particles dubbed the Standard Model: quarks bound tight by gluons to make atomic nuclei; negatively charged electrons and their heavier counterparts, muons and taus; photons, the particles of light; heavy W and Z bosons, with their subtle influence; and evasive, lightweight neutrinos....

A forest floor can store lots of atmospheric carbon, helping to limit global warming that results from carbon dioxide emissions. Most of that storage, scientists have thought, is found in tree leaves and branches that absorb carbon, eventually fall to the ground and slowly decay into soil. A new study in Sweden, however, indicates that 50 to 70 percent of the carbon bound in soil is actually from tree roots and the fungi that grow on them....

Concerned by new evidence that damage from hailstorms could grow as global temperatures climb, scientists are asking for more resources to study how the icy stones form, including the use of an armored aircraft to fly into storms. Seated in front of plaster models of giant hailstones, including a nearly 2-pound monster that set a world record this year when it fell near Córdoba, Argentina, experts said better radar and satellite-based observations are needed after a lull in research that began in the 1980s....

Twenty-five years ago the technology industry was at a crossroads that could have resulted in a far different world from the one we see today. The Clinton administration was pushing industry to install the “Clipper chip” in all communications devices. This “key escrow” system would have given law enforcement a backdoor to bypass encryption whenever they felt the need. The proposal would have put U.S. tech companies at a serious disadvantage because foreign products without backdoors would have been much more attractive to the market....

A week after a blast at a Texas fertilizer plant killed at least 15 people and hurt more than 200, authorities still don’t know exactly why the West Chemical and Fertilizer Company plant exploded. Here’s what we do know: The fertilizer plant hadn’t been inspected by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration since 1985. Its owners do not seem to have told the Department of Homeland Security that they were storing large quantities of potentially explosive fertilizer, as regulations require....

Ultrasound is used widely in medical imaging, but in recent years scientists have started honing it for another use: stimulating nerves to treat disease. In two new studies in rodents, researchers focused the sonic vibrations on nerves in the spleen that communicate with the immune system, reducing inflammation. If the approach proves safe and effective in people, it could serve as a noninvasive treatment for inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis....

No one ever says of the Sahara that a river runs through it. But somewhere between 11,700 and 5,000 years ago, one did. In full flow, it would rank 11th among the largest rivers on the earth today.* Paleoclimatologist and geochemist Charlotte Skonieczny of the French Research Institute for Exploration of the Sea and her colleagues report the evidence for the ancient channel in a recent issue of Nature Communications. The team discovered the so-called Tamanrasett River when examining microwave data collected by a Japanese satellite that had been mapping geologic features in the area....

Americans with diabetes have high levels of selenium in their bodies, prompting some health experts to suspect that it could contribute to development of the disease. In response to their new findings, a research team has recommended that U.S. residents stop taking supplements that contain selenium. Most Americans ingest large amounts of the mineral—substantially more than people elsewhere—because soil in much of the country contains high levels that are absorbed by crops....

I ONCE LIVED within a short walking distance of a state line, and I had a friend who lived right on the avenue that was the dividing line. That meant she could be cutting her lawn while watching her neighbor cut his lawn in a different state. Living on a border loses its novelty after a while, but visitors always find it intriguing. They seem to expect the Berlin Wall or some other concrete demarcation of an abstract political division....

CLIMATEWIRE | For the next five summers, extreme heat and other climate change impacts will threaten the reliability of California’s electrical grid, state officials said Friday. Available electricity supplies might not be able to keep up with demand if heat waves hit, droughts make hydropower less available or wildfires reduce electricity transmission, staff of the California Energy Commission (CEC) and California Public Utilities Commission advised agency leaders. Energy planners fear a combination of those warming impacts also arrive at the same time....

NEW YORK – What would the world look like with 7 billion human beings in the mix, vying for resources? Pretty much what it looks like now. That’s because the planet is about to pass the 7 billion mark any day now. Or maybe it already has, according to academics at Columbia University. Joel Cohen, a professor of populations at Columbia, briefed attendees here this week during an Earth Institute gathering on the subject....

Zachary Kerr of Methuen, Mass., was born an identical triplet. But unlike his sisters, he identified as male from a young age. In an interview with journalist Francine Russo, the transgender college student discusses his experiences and offers advice to other transpeople. What is your earliest memory of feeling you were a boy, not a girl? My parents tell me that at age three I announced, “I’m a boy,” and everyone laughed and said, “Oh, no, you’re not....

The five teams left in a $30 million race to the moon now have a bit more time to accomplish their missions—and the chance to win some additional money along the way. The Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP) is offering $20 million to the first privately funded team that soft-lands a spacecraft on the moon, moves it at least 1,640 feet (500 meters), and transmits high-definition photos and video back to Earth....

Between October and June they shuffle out of auditoriums, gymnasiums and classrooms, their eyes adjusting to the sunlight as their fingers fumble to awaken cell phones that have been silent for four consecutive hours. Some raise a hand to their foreheads, as though trying to rub away a headache. Others linger in front of the parking lot, unsure of what to do next. They are absolutely exhausted, but not because of any strenuous physical activity....

Unwashed pots and pans tower precariously in the sink. Last week’s mail is strewn across the countertop, and a TV blares from the next room over. According to a study published in February in Environment and Behavior, this kind of chaotic environment can be enough to make someone overeat, given a certain mindset. “We knew environmental factors influence behavior, and we knew the influence of stress on overeating in general,” points outs Lenny Vartanian, a psychologist at the University of New South Wales in Australia and the study’s lead author....

The U.S. has tragically surpassed 400,000 COVID-19 deaths, and case numbers and hospitalizations are likewise spiking to record levels around the world. With vaccines now rolling out, there is reason to hope that there is an end in sight. However, by most estimates, widespread vaccinations will not be in place until the middle of the year at the earliest. So, we have some ways to go yet with social distancing, mask wearing and other pandemic mitigation behaviors....