In Case You Missed It

CHILE

Baffled by unexplained skin lesions on blue whales near Chile, scientists shot darts by crossbow to take samples from the whales' blisters and fat in a bid to identify potential pollutant causes.

RUSSIA

On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

A 46,000-year-old bird recovered from the Siberian permafrost is in such good condition that it looks like it died days ago, researchers say. It is the only nearly intact bird carcass found from the most recent ice age.

ZIMBABWE AND MOZAMBIQUE

New research on African turquoise killifish, which live in ponds that dry up seasonally, reveals that their embryos can suspend development by up to two years, with no impact on their ultimate life span after hatching.

CHINA

Researchers in northern China uncovered fossils of the oldest green algae on record, a multicellular two-millimeter organism that lived a billion years ago—the earliest known ancestor of today's photosynthesizing plants.

MALAYSIA

Scientists say they are scaling up an experimental farm that uses metal-loving plants to draw and harvest nickel from the soil in the Malaysian portion of Borneo. The expanded farm will cover 50 acres.

AUSTRIA

For the first time, engineers executed a new bridge-building technique with two vertical girders, erecting them upward before unfurling the span like an umbrella. Two such structures will form bridges across Austrian rivers. The process saves time and cuts down massively on the scaffolding needed to build horizontally.

Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism

Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.

When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.

Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber

Thank you,

Jeanna Bryner, Editor in Chief, Scientific American