Natural science news

A warmer ocean is a less green one

Phytoplankton numbers have fallen across the world over the last century, particularly towards the poles and in the open oceans.

Measuring Temperature by Counting Atoms: "Suppressed Fluctuations in Fermi Gases"

Tags: Physics

Physicists count the number of atoms to measure temperatures that are a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero.

Earth is no Longer 'One of a Kind'

Tags: Astronomy

Worlds of the approximate size of Earth appear to dominate our Milky Way.

See A Quasar Gravitationally Lens a Galaxy (for the First Time!)

Tags: Astronomy

A quasar is observed to act as a gravitational lens for the first time, which allows an estimate of the mass of the galaxy hosting the quasar.

The Biggest Star We've Ever Found!

Tags: Astronomy

A star with 265 times the mass of our Sun is discovered, the heaviest one discovered to date.

Researchers create 'lesbian' mice by deleting a single gene

Tags: Biology

Deleting the FucM gene, which encodes an enzyme called fucose mutarotase, causes masculinization of the mouse brain, so that female mice lacking the gene avoid the advances of males and try to mate with other females instead.

Robins can literally see magnetic fields, but only if their vision is sharp

Tags: Biology

Some birds can literally see magnetic fields with their eyes.

The Size of the Proton Measured with Lasers

Tags: Physics

Using lasers on muonic hydrogen reveals that the size of the proton is slightly smaller than previously believed, which could have profound implications in the theory of particle physics.

Chimpanzees murder for land

Tags: Biology

Groups of chimps will beat other chimps to death for their land.

Planck All-sky

The Planck spacecraft, designed to observe the cosmic microwave in unprecedented detail, releases its first all sky map.

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