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Modern society’s continued dependence on fossil fuels is warming the world at a pace that is unprecedented in the past 2,000 years—and its effects are already apparent as record droughts, wildfires and floods devastate communities worldwide—according to a landmark report from the United Nations on the state of climate science. The assessment from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says things are poised to get worse if greenhouse-gas emissions continue, but also makes it clear that the future of the planet depends in large part on the choices that humanity takes today....

A teenage boy scarfs down an entire bucket of fried chicken. The next morning he wakes up with red bumps roiling over his skin. Is there a connection? Did eating all that greasy food give him a bad case of the zits? The simple answer for the past 30 years has been a resolute no. But today, new research suggests the answer is more complicated: maybe. The fat you put in your mouth does not reappear on your skin....

In mathematics, as in many fields, who you know matters. An analysis of mathematicians’ “ancestors” (their graduate school advisers) as well as their descendants (the students they advised) shows that elite researchers tend to produce elites. Mathematicians Feng Fu of Dartmouth College and Ho-Chun Herbert Chang of the University of Southern California analyzed connections among 240,000 mathematicians and found that winners of math’s highest honor, the Fields Medal, were concentrated among just a few mathematical families....

In big news for small dogs everywhere, researchers have found a tie that binds the small breeds, from Chihuahua to Pomeranian to Pekingese: they all share the same version of a gene for a growth hormone called insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1). A group gathered DNA samples from thousands of dogs representing more than 100 breeds, looking for common genetic denominators amongst the great variety of shapes and sizes. Small breeds, it turns out, all have a piece of DNA that seems to repress the IGF1 gene and hence stunts their growth, researchers report....

On January 30, 2020, an amateur satellite watcher tweeted, “Something to potentially watch.” Cosmos 2542, a Russian inspection satellite, was “loitering around” USA 245, an American spy satellite, and, he wrote, “as I’m typing this, that offset distance shifts between 150 and 300 kilometers.” USA 245 then adjusted its orbit to get away from Cosmos 2542, which in turn tweaked its own orbit to get closer again. “This is all circumstantial evidence,” the watcher wrote, but “a hell of a lot of circumstances make it look like a known Russian inspection satellite is currently inspecting a known U....

The meltdown started when water to cool the reactors fell to dangerously low levels four hours after the fourth-largest recorded earthquake rattled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Five out of six of its reactors lost electricity when a 14-meter tall tsunami swept in 40 minutes later. Backup diesel generators lost their fuel tanks and died. Cooling water pumps failed. Nuclear fuel rods began melting and volatile hydrogen gas built up....

Aquifers in the Greenland ice sheet are channeling meltwater back into the ocean, new research indicates. These “firn aquifers” were discovered by a group of NASA scientists in 2011. They comprise water pockets the size of Lake Tahoe and are embedded in the glacier’s surface, hidden under blankets of fresh snowfall and compressed ice. For the last few years, scientists have been trying to figure out what happens to this water—does it refreeze into the glacier, or does it trickle out somehow?...

The year 1609 was noteworthy for two astronomical milestones. That was when Galileo built his first telescopes and began his meticulous study of the skies. Within months he discovered the four major satellites of Jupiter, saw that Venus (like our moon) has illuminated phases and confirmed earlier observations of sunspots—all evidence that undermined the Aristotelian model of an unchanging, Earth-centered cosmos. During that same year, Johannes Kepler published Astronomia Nova, which contained his detailed calculation of the orbit of Mars....

Some children insist, from the moment they can speak, that they are not the gender indicated by their biological sex. So where does this knowledge reside? And is it possible to discern a genetic or anatomical basis for transgender identity? Exploration of these questions is relatively new, but there is a bit of evidence for a genetic basis. Identical twins are somewhat more likely than fraternal twins to both be trans....

In 2007, James Watson eyed his genome for the very first time. Through more than 50 years of scientific and technological advancement, Watson saw the chemical structure he once helped unravel now fused into a personal genetic landscape laid out before him. Yet there was a small stretch of nucleic acids on chromosome 19 that he preferred to leave uncovered, a region that coded the apolipoprotein E gene. APOE, as it’s called, has been a telling genetic landmark of Alzheimer’s risk, strongly correlated to the disease since the early 90s....

What makes for a long-lasting memory? Research has shown that emotional or important events take root deeply, whereas neutral or mundane happenings create weak impressions that easily fade. But what about an experience that initially seemed forgettable but was later shown to be important? Animal research suggested that these types of older memories could be strengthened, but scientists had not been able to replicate this finding in humans—until now. New evidence suggests that our initially weak memories are maintained by the brain for a period, during which they can be enhanced....

Genius U.S. doctors begin first human trial of embryonic stem cells on paralyzed patient in Atlanta Nissan reaches 20,000-order goal for its all-electric car ahead of schedule, despite the Leaf’s limited (100-mile) range Scientists think they have solved the disappearing-bees puzzle: a fungus and virus combination that is treatable Obama to install solar panels on White House roof, prompting unflattering comparisons to Carter Accident at factory in Hungary sends millions of gallons of toxic red sludge through villages and into the Danube...

Update: The pet food scare has widened. As of Friday night, at least one brand of dry cat food has been recalled: Prescription Diet m/d Feline, which is made by Hills Pet Nutrition, Inc., of Topeka, Kan. This kind of pet food is typically sold online and by veterinarians, in four- and 10-pound bags. Earlier this year, the company used wheat gluten from the same supplier that sold the protein to Menu Foods, Inc....

When the SARS virus spread worldwide in 2003 governments and companies quickly realized that they had very few choices for safely flying infected patients back to their home countries so that they could receive advanced medical treatment. That earlier pandemic spurred development of many more patient isolator units for air evacuations—backup options that have already helped fly home patients from the U.S., U.K. and other countries in the midst of the deadly Ebola pandemic gripping west Africa....

The title of most distant known galaxy has bounced around a bit in the past few years, as various teams of researchers have laid claim to progressively more remote objects in the early universe. Now a group of astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope has tentatively identified a new record-holder: a galaxy so distant that its light has taken most of the 13.7-billion-year history of the universe to reach humankind’s telescopes....

Thomas Edison was famously opposed to sleeping. In an 1889 interview published in Scientific American, the ever energetic inventor of the lightbulb claimed he never slept more than four hours a night. Sleep was, he thought, a waste of time. Yet Edison may have relied on slumber to spur his creativity. The inventor is said to have napped while holding a ball in each hand, presuming that, as he fell asleep, the orbs would fall to the floor and wake him....

By Sebastien Malo NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The Americas has become the first region in the world to be free of measles, following a 22-year vaccination drive against the disease which continues to infect tens of thousands of people globally, the Pan American Health Organization said on Tuesday. The milestone was confirmed after no cases of the highly contagious disease originating in the Americas were recorded in at least three years, the PAHO said....

On commuter trains, the middle seat in a bank of three is always the last to be occupied. Some passengers will even stand for an hour by doorways rather than sit between patrons. Why? This quirky aversion may be a case of psychological security trumping physical comfort. The tension often begins when greedy window- and aisle-seat occupants discourage access to the middle seat by blocking it with a briefcase or studiously avoiding eye contact with approaching seat searchers....

Yet again, the stakes going into U.S. Election Day are soberingly high—and the results at all levels of government will have lasting ramifications for millions of human lives on issues ranging from abortion access to the climate emergency. Democrats have held the presidency and both houses of Congress for two years, taking some of the country’s most ambitious measures to date to combat climate change. At the same time, attention has waned among both Democratic and Republican policymakers when it comes to continuing efforts needed to control the COVID-19 pandemic....

Like many small water utilities in California, the Sunny Slope Water Company in Pasadena has a nitrate pollution problem. The chemical, a legacy of fertilizers used in the state’s huge agriculture industry, has been linked to birth defects and cancer at high levels. To meet California’s drinking water standards for nitrates, Sunny Slope had to blend water across its five wells, which serve 38,000 homes. But when one of those wells reached nitrate levels that forced its closure, the company had to tap into a more expensive reservoir, says its general manager Ken Tcheng....