Origins of an interstellar visitor

Plus: Safe social distance, the 2020 hurricane season and how the periodic table gets new elements

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04/19/2020 Here’s how the periodic table gets new elements Today’s scientists keep adding to the periodic table. But an element has to earn its spot. Read More A star orbiting the Milky Way’s giant black hole confirms Einstein was right An oddity previously seen in Mercury’s orbit has been spotted in a star circling the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way’s center.  Read More Why 6 feet may not be enough social distance to avoid COVID-19 Scientists who study airflow warn that virus-laden drops may travel farther than thought. Read More Climate change made a southwestern U.S. drought one of the worst in 1,200 years Tree ring records show that the 2000–2018 drought in southwestern North America is among the most severe to strike the region in over a millennium. Read More Ancient recipes led scientists to a long-lost natural blue Led by medieval texts, scientists hunted down a plant and extracted from its tiny fruits a blue watercolor whose origins had long been a mystery. Read More Forecasters predict a very active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season Warmer ocean temperatures could fuel a very active Atlantic hurricane season, with one forecast predicting 18 named storms, including nine hurricanes. Read More ‘Oumuamua might be a shard of a broken planet A new origin story for the solar system’s first known interstellar visitor suggests it may have been part of a world that got shredded by its star. Read More Seabirds may find food at sea by flying in a massive, kilometers-wide arc Radar shows that seabird groups can fly together in giant “rake” formations. If they are cooperating to find food, it’s on a scale not yet seen in the birds. Read More COVID-19 may be most contagious one to two days before symptoms appear The coronavirus probably spreads the most before symptoms appear, making containing viral transmission harder. Read More Dancing peacock spiders turned an arachnophobe into an arachnologist Just 22, Joseph Schubert has described 12 of 86 peacock spider species. One with a blue and yellow abdomen is named after Van Gogh’s "The Starry Night." Read More Privacy policy  |  Update Profile  | Manage Subscriptions  |   Unsubscribe This email was sent by: Society for Science & the Public 1719 N Street NW Washington, DC, 20036, US