Why Does the Tide Vanish at an Amphidromic Point?
At an amphidromic point, one tidal component has no rise and fall. Maps of phase and amplitude explain the rotating pattern around it.
How Do Vampire Bats Turn a Blood Meal into Running Fuel?
Vampire bats rapidly use amino acids from a blood meal during exercise. Labelled carbon in their breath reveals how—and what the experiment cannot establish.
Why Can a Sand Dune Sing More Than One Note?
Sorting grains made noisy singing sand produce a clearer note. Laboratory avalanches reveal what grain size contributes to a dune’s sound.
How Do We Know Vikings Cut Wood in America in 1021?
A radiocarbon spike and preserved tree edges date Norse woodcutting in Newfoundland to 1021, without establishing the first arrival.
Why Does Popcorn Jump, and What Makes the Pop?
High-speed recordings separate popcorn’s bursting hull, starch-powered jump, and sound. The pop is best explained by escaping water vapour.
How Can We See a Supernova Again Centuries Later?
Light echoes let astronomers recover an old supernova’s spectrum and use its radiation to map interstellar dust in three dimensions.
How Can Antarctic Icefish Live Without Hemoglobin?
Antarctic icefish use dissolved oxygen and a remodeled circulation to live without hemoglobin. Their genomes reveal clues to how the genes vanished.
How Can You Speak Across a Valley by Whistling?
Whistled speech preserves selected sound cues so trained listeners can understand an existing language across a valley.
