Culture
Science News Briefs from around the World: May 2023
Mistaken fossil identity in India, decrypted letters of an imprisoned Scottish queen, marsupials seeking marsupials Down Under, and more in this month’s Quick Hits
Stories by Allison Parshall
Plants
Plant Cell Parts Turn into Glass to Soak Up Sun
Chloroplasts’ choreography keeps plant cells powered
Medicine
What Are Puberty Blockers, and How Do They Work?
Decades of data support the use and safety of puberty-pausing medications, which give transgender adolescents and their families time to weigh important medical decisions
Artificial Intelligence
A Brain Scanner Combined with an AI Language Model Can Provide a Glimpse into Your Thoughts
New technology gleans the gist of stories a person hears while laying in a brain scanner
Weather
Northern Lights Dance across U.S. because of ‘Stealthy’ Sun Eruptions
A severe geomagnetic storm created auroras that were visible as far south as Arizona in the U.S.
Arts
How This AI Image Won a Major Photography Competition
Boris Eldagsen submitted an artificial-intelligence-generated image to a photography contest as a “cheeky monkey” and sparked a debate about AI’s place in the art world...
Public Health
Deadly Bacteria in Eyedrops May Spread from Person to Person
Infections of a new strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa that have led to blindness and death highlight the worsening antibiotic resistance crisis
Policy
Science News Briefs from around the World: April 2023
Ancient Maya cities in laser focus, chickens gone wild in Singapore, high-tech drug research in the U.S., and much more in this month’s Quick Hits
Evolution
How Zombifying Fungi Became Master Manipulators
The real-life fungi that inspired The Last of Us hijack the bodies of ants, wasps, cicadas, and more.
Artificial Intelligence
If AI Starts Making Music on Its Own, What Happens to Musicians?
Music made with artificial intelligence could upend the music industry. Here’s what that might look like.
Artificial Intelligence
Music-Making Artificial Intelligence Is Getting Scary Good
Google’s new AI model can generate entirely new music from text prompts. Here’s what they sound like.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence Helped Make the Coolest Song You’ve Heard This Week
Machine-learning algorithms are getting so good that they can translate Western instruments into Thai ones with ease.
Astronomy
Rare, Dust-Shrouded Dying Star Revealed in New JWST Image
Before exploding as supernovae, massive Wolf-Rayet stars spew gas and dust into space, seeding the formation of future stellar and planetary systems
Artificial Intelligence
AI Can Re-create What You See from a Brain Scan
Image-generating AI is getting better at re-creating what people are looking at from their fMRI data. But this isn’t mind reading—yet
Health Care
New Home Test Can Tell If You Have the Flu or COVID
Flu and COVID symptoms are easily confused. A new home test—the first for flu—tells them apart in minutes
Engineering
New Color-Changing Coating Could Both Heat and Cool Buildings
A thin film can switch from releasing heat to trapping it, and wrapping the coating around buildings could make them more energy-efficient
Microbiology
Could the Zombie Fungus in TV’s The Last of Us Really Infect People?
The pandemic fungus in the television program The Last of Us is real. But an expert says other fungi are much more threatening to humans
Reproduction
A Common Antibiotic Could Prevent Deaths from Childbirth Complications
One in three cases of maternal sepsis can be prevented with a single dose of antibiotic, a study in low- and middle-income countries shows
Particle Physics
‘Unbelievable’ Spinning Particles Probe Nature’s Most Mysterious Force
The strong force holds our atoms together. Scientists may have observed its small-scale fluctuations for the first time
Black Holes
Colliding Supermassive Black Holes Discovered in Nearby Galaxy
These merging supermassive black holes are among the closest ever observed and could help unlock deeper secrets of cosmic history
