Required Reading
This week, the boundless creativity of Audrey Flack, filmmakers memorialize the Haitian Revolution, medieval women’s embroidery, talking dogs, and more.
A View From the Easel
This week, studios in Chicago, California, DC, and New Hampshire.
The Double Life of Aji V.N.’s Art
Aji’s bifurcated practice reflects his experience of living and working in two different worlds, India and the Netherlands.
Is the Guggenheim the Right Place to Advertise a Beyoncé Album?
The museum’s façade has been the site of projections and demonstrations for everything from labor rights to World AIDS Day.
Two Decades of British Women Artists Striking Back
Women in Revolt! is essential viewing for those keen to understand the evolution of British feminism from the 1970s to 1990s.
The Fugitive Ghost of Ancient Greece’s Greatest Sculptor
Although his work is legendary in ancient Greek sculpture, Phidias himself remains fugitive, a blank space whose outlines can be discerned in the copies of his works.
Two of the Milky Way’s earliest building blocks identified
Astronomers have identified what could be two of the Milky Way’s earliest building blocks: Named ‘Shakti’ and ‘Shiva’, these appear to be the remnants of two galaxies that merged between 12 and 13 billion years ago with an early version of the Milky Wa…
Evolutionary history of the formation of forceps and maternal care in earwigs
Researchers examined the developmental processes and reproduction-related behavior of 8 of the 11 families of Dermaptera (earwigs) in detail and compared with those reported in previous studies. The results confirmed that Dermaptera is a polyneopteran …
High-resolution brain created with 3D printer
A 3D-printed ‘brain phantom’ has been developed, which is modeled on the structure of brain fibers and can be imaged using a special variant of magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI). The scientific team has now shown in a study, these brain models can be u…
Say hello to biodegradable microplastics
Finding viable alternatives to traditional petroleum-based plastics and microplastics has never been more important. New research shows that their plant-based polymers biodegrade — even at the microplastic level — in under seven months.
Rose essential oil: A safe pesticide for organic agriculture
Following injury, plants release terpenoids to enhance their defenses. Researchers studying terpenoid-enriched essential oils (EOs) have found that rose EO (REO) can stimulate defense genes in tomato leaves. Furthermore, REO attracts herbivores that pr…
Secrets of the Van Allen belt revealed in new study
A challenge to space scientists to better understand our hazardous near-Earth space environment has been set in a new study.
New geological study: Scandinavia was born in Greenland
The oldest Scandinavian bedrock was ‘born’ in Greenland, according to a new geological study. The study helps us understand the origin of continents and why Earth is the only planet in our solar system with life.
As we age, our cells are less likely to express longer genes
Aging may be less about specific ‘aging genes’ and more about how long a gene is. Many of the changes associated with aging could be occurring due to decreased expression of long genes, say researchers. A decline in the expression of long genes with ag…
Researchers name prehistoric amphibian ancestor discovered in Smithsonian collection after Kermit the Frog
Scientists have uncovered the fossilized skull of a 270-million-year-old ancient amphibian ancestor in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The team of researchers described the fossil as a new species of proto-amphib…
Entanglements of humpback whales in fish farms rare — and naivety could be to blame
The first study of humpback whale entanglements in B.C. aquaculture facilities found eight over 13 years, with the curiosity of young whales a potential contributing factor.
Alaska Native tribes take lead on shellfish toxin testing where state falls short
A group of coastal Alaska Native tribes in 2016 began monitoring shellfish, a traditional harvest, for deadly biotoxins because the state only tests commercial harvests. The program fills an essential gap in public health protection and has found succe…
N-channel diamond field-effect transistor
A research team has developed an n-channel diamond MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor). The developed n-channel diamond MOSFET provides a key step toward CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor: one of the most popular tech…