Examining old rocks with new technology reveals the source of the moon’s atmosphere: Meteorites bombarding the lunar surface over billions of years have kicked up dust that forms the satellite’s tenuous atmosphere, according to a report in Science Advances.Why Scientists are Studying Moon RocksA team of scientists analyzed moon rocks collected during the Apollo missions that ran from 1968 to 1972. Those samples had been examined earlier. “But the instruments weren’t very precise back the ...read more

Citizen science can be a time machine, with projects that transport you to the past through fragile photographs, ancient artifacts, and hand-written records. In some cases, these items tell stories, filling in missing pieces of our history. Sometimes they hold secrets that may prove to be vital to our future. Why not make some history with this selection of engrossing, time- tripping projects? Share Smithsonian treasuresUS Air Force WASP Pilots (L to R) Frances Green, Margaret (Peg) Kirchner, An ...read more

When wildfire smoke is in the air, doctors urge people to stay indoors to avoid breathing in harmful particles and gases. But what happens to trees and other plants that can’t escape from the smoke?They respond a bit like us, it turns out: Some trees essentially shut their windows and doors and hold their breath.As atmospheric and chemical scientists, we study the air quality and ecological effects of wildfire smoke and other pollutants. In a study that started quite by accident when smoke ove ...read more

In 1935, researchers discovered a mummy whose face was frozen in what appeared to be an eternal pain-filled rictus. Anthropologists have wondered for nearly a century why the mummy was buried with that frozen horrific expression. According to a report in Frontiers in Medicine, experts have now ruled out some possible causes.Investigating Screaming MummiesCo-author Sahar Saleem, a professor of radiology at Kasr Al Ainy Hospital of Cairo University, became an accidental expert on screaming mummies ...read more

A new study from the National Institutes of Health shows a jump in both hospital-acquired infections and resistance to the antibiotics used to treat them. The findings are based on data gathered at 120 U.S. hospitals from January 2018 to December 2022, a five-year period that included the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Nasia Safdar, a professor of infectious medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, discusses why infection rates have gone up and how you can protect yourself as a hospital patient ...read more

Millions of years before the most famous meat-eating dinosaurs, such as Tyrannosaurus rex and Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, roamed the planet, other massive creatures claimed the role of apex predators in the Triassic period — which stretched from 252 million years to 201 million years ago. One of those was Fasolasuchus tenax, a nearly ten-meter (about 32 feet) relative of the early ancestor of modern-day crocodiles. Lesser known than many of those massive meat-eating dinosaurs that dominated later ...read more

In 2010, Chelsea Wood was conducting a biological survey of the Line Islands, a chain of atolls and coral outcrops a thousand miles south of Hawaii. Some islands are heavily populated, home to a robust fishing trade, while others have never been permanently inhabited by humans. Seizing upon the opportunity afforded by such a stark contrast, Wood, then a budding parasitologist pursuing her Ph.D. in biology at Stanford University, decided to compare the worms living in the organs of fish from the ...read more

Love is confusing. People in the U.S. Google the word “love” about 1.2 million times a month. Roughly a quarter of those searches ask “what is love” or request a “definition of love.”What is all this confusion about?Neuroscience tells us that love is caused by certain chemicals in the brain. For example, when you meet someone special, the hormones dopamine and norepinephrine can trigger a reward response that makes you want to see this person again. Like tasting chocolate, you want m ...read more

To experience a volcanic eruption is to witness nature’s raw power. If you would like to see one for yourself, Iceland is a great location for it. Since 2021, seven eruptions have taken place along the Reykjanes Peninsula, close to Reykjavík.These recent Icelandic eruptions have garnered attention from Earth scientists like me. The eruptions help us understand how volcanoes work in incredible detail. My team has been taking samples from the erupting lava from the Reykjanes Peninsula and findi ...read more