Time to get rid of your gas stove?

A public health expert says there are good reasons to switch from a gas stove to electric—but there are also safety steps you can take in the meantime. Given a rash of recent headlines suggesting gas stoves could be bad for our health, should you be worried that cooking with them could be harmful? The surprisingly emotional debate over gas stoves...

11h

Do traffic signals need a fourth light for self-driving cars?

A “white light” added to traffic signals could enable self-driving vehicles to help control traffic flow—and let human drivers know what’s going on. In computational simulations, the new approach significantly improves travel time through intersections and reduces fuel consumption. “This concept we’re proposing for traffic intersections, which we...

14h

Fewer sharks worldwide may explain drop in attacks

The number of unprovoked shark attacks worldwide decreased last year, tying with 2020 for the fewest number of reported incidents in the last 10 years. According to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File, there were a total of 57 unprovoked bites in 2022, most of which occurred in the United States and Australia. Of these, five...

14h

Minors can consent to STI/HIV care but privacy risks remain

Minor consent laws for STI/HIV services increased across United States, but limitations persist, report researchers. As of 2021, all 50 states and Washington, DC allow youth to consent independently to some or all of these services, but the laws remain complex and varied, and confidentiality protections are rare. Increasing sexually transmitted infection...

15h

Mask or no mask, babies remember a face

Babies who are 6 to 9 months can form memories of masked faces and recognize those faces when they’re unmasked. The new study should allay concerns of many parents and childhood experts who worry about possible developmental harm from widespread face-masking during the pandemic. For the study Michaela DeBolt, a doctoral candidate in cognitive psychology,...

16h

Bird genomes hint at survival during climate change

Diversity in bird traits has remained relatively stable over the past million years, research finds. A new study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences uses genetic data from over 250 bird species to investigate patterns of trait diversity over the distant past and under a previous period of dramatic global climate warming....

16h

Team controls two quantum light sources

Researchers report the ability to control two quantum light sources rather than one. For years, researchers around the world have strived to develop stable quantum light sources and achieve the phenomenon known as quantum mechanical entanglement—a phenomenon, with nearly sci-fi-like properties, where two light sources can affect each other instantly...

17h

91% of former NFL players in study had CTE

Researchers have diagnosed 345 former NFL players with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) out of 376 former players studied, or 91.7%. Among those diagnosed in the last year are two former players who once represented the teams paired in this Sunday’s Super Bowl LVII matchup—former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Rick Arrington, who played three...

17h

Team finds black hole ‘table for two’

Astronomers have discovered a galactic table for two—a pair of unusually close black holes that are feeding together after their respective galaxies collided. The finding could have a profound impact on our understanding of later-stage galaxy mergers and suggests that the phenomenon of side-by-side black holes occurring during a merger may be more...

1d

Coral reefs can store CO2, not just emit it

A new study comparing data from Heron Reef and the Middle East’s Gulf of Aqaba has disproved the long-held theory that coral reefs only have the capacity to emit CO2. The first-of-its-kind discovery is the result of an international study that found that dust blown in from nearby deserts can convert coral reefs into CO2 sinks. Professor Hamish McGowan...

1d