Warming oceans have shifted the intensity of many Atlantic hurricanes up an entire category The warm surface of the North Atlantic Ocean boosted the wind speeds of Hurricane Milton in October, enhancing the tempest from Category 4 into Category 5. CSU/CIRA & NOAA As if hurricanes needed any more kick. Human-caused climate change is boosting

An analysis upholds general relativity but hints dark energy may vary over time  Scientists mapped galaxies with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument at the Mayall telescope (shown) at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. T. Slovinský, KPNO/AURA/NSF, NOIRLab Scientists could be wrong about dark energy. But they’re right about gravity, a new study suggests. Dark

In a discovery that blurs the line between biology and technology, scientists have found that heart-shaped clams use fiber optic–like structures to channel sunlight through their shells in much the same way that telecommunications company use fiber optics to deliver high-speed internet connectivity into homes. This innovation, a first known example of bundled fiber optics

The announcement that President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the new leader of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has brought renewed attention to many comments the nominee has made about public health.  Kennedy was announced as Trump’s pick on November 14. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate

In a discovery that blurs the line between biology and technology, scientists have found that heart-shaped clams use fiber optic–like structures to channel sunlight through their shells in much the same way that telecommunications company use fiber optics to deliver high-speed internet connectivity into homes. This innovation, a first known example of bundled fiber optics

There was some welcome news in October about young people and tobacco products: Fewer U.S. teens and tweens are currently using these products than at any time in the last 25 years (SN: 10/25/24). That still leaves more than 2 million high school and middle school students who reported vaping, smoking or using nicotine pouches

Some genetic changes in fat cells don’t go away after weight loss A new study suggests that adipose tissue, which contains fat cells (shown red-yellow in this scanning electron micrograph), can carry a genetic “memory” of obesity that may make it harder to keep weight off. STEVE GSCHMEISSNER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/GETTY IMAGES Fat tissue may commit

A researcher with the condition studies how the senses collaborate — and when they don’t Most people can “see” vivid imagery in their minds. They can imagine a chirping bird from hearing the sounds of one, for example. But people with aphantasia can’t do this. A new study explores how their brains work. Kurt Stricker/Moment/Getty

Experimenting with food Mayonnaise’s texture is perfect for mimicking what a fuel capsule goes through when it’s blasted with lasers to ignite nuclear fusion, Emily Conover reported in “Mayonnaise may shed light on nuclear fusion experiments” (SN: 10/5/24, p. 5). Reader Linda Ferrazzara wondered if mayo qualifies as a non-Newtonian fluid, one whose viscosity changes

Since her public debut in 1978, Lucy has been on a first-name basis with the world. Not bad for someone from rural Ethiopia who had been an unknown for 3.2 million years or so. Paleoanthropologists Donald Johanson and Tom Gray had discovered Lucy’s fossilized bones a few years earlier (SN: 1/4/75, p. 4). That spectacular