Crooked Bough News Round-up

— Contrary to some reports, you don't have two brains

 

at 9/23/26 12:47pm

A bad press release makes a good excuse to look at how developmental biology works.

[Category: Science, Biology, brain development, cell fates, developmental biology, neurobiology]

— Small undersea volcanoes may unleash outsized tsunamis

 

at 9/23/26 5:15am

Post-eruption imaging of the Hunga caldera gives new details of its collapse.

[Category: Science, Earth science, eruptions, geology, Hunga, Hunga Tonga, tsunamis, volcanoes]

— Effort begins to fill the void left by terminated US climate report

 

at 9/22/26 10:26am

First paper added to community collection is a roadmap for research.

[Category: Science, national climate assessment]

— Russel Vought will reportedly be given veto power over all NIH grants

 

at 9/21/26 10:40am

Pending move comes over the objections of the NIH director.

[Category: Policy, Science, Bhattacharya, grants, NIH, OMB, science funding, Trump, Vought]

— T. rex teeth indicate it ran as warm as an elephant

 

at 9/20/26 3:00am

Isotope ratios provide a hint that the giants were actively managing temperatures.

[Category: Science, Biology, dinosaurs, paleontology, phsiology, warm blooded]

— Learning another language may be one of the best ways to keep your brain healthy

 

at 9/19/26 5:10am

Research suggests that bilingualism can offer cognitive benefits.

[Category: Science, aging prevention, anti-aging, language, language learning, learning, syndication]

— Rings around a tiny body have changed over the past decade

 

at 9/19/26 4:00am

Chariklo is only about 250 km across, but it has two rings, and they're changing.

[Category: Science, asteroids, astronomy, centaurs, Chariklo, JWST, rings]

— Finding the cells that put our brain to sleep

 

at 9/18/26 11:49am

Rare cells with widespread connectivity seem to be able to trigger sleep.

[Category: Science, Biology, brain, Cortex, neurobiology, sleep]

— Meet the winner of Nikon's Small World in Motion video contest

 

at 9/18/26 7:56am

Ning Xu of Tsinghua University captured tiny cilia beating in airways of a child with rare respiratory disorder.

[Category: Science, microscopic imagery, Nikon Small World in Motion video, scientific imaging]

— EPA immediately sued over plans to repeal climate rules for power plants

 

at 9/17/26 9:38am

Public health groups warn EPA rule will cost Americans billions in health bills.

[Category: Policy, Science, climate change, climate pollution, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, greenhouse gas emissions, power plants]

— A dolphin named Bubbles makes fish vomit, then eats upchuck

 

at 9/17/26 7:57am

"Dolphins are predators and actively hunt their prey, whether it's been stolen from another species or not.”

[Category: Science, animal behavior, Biology, dolphins, kleptoparasitism, marine biology]

— Nonprofit that tracks meteors taken down by "critical blow" from a cyberattack

 

at 9/16/26 3:08pm

Group plans to be largely out of commission for several weeks.

[Category: Biz & IT, Science, Security, Space, Cyberattacks, hacking, meteors, space]

— Researchers swap in human brain cells for a mouse's cortex

 

at 9/16/26 1:08pm

The results are only a slight improvement over missing the entire brain structure.

[Category: Science, Biology, Cortex, Genetics, Mice, Neuroscience]

— Scientists develop new method for deciphering ancient scrolls

 

at 9/16/26 12:43pm

Even a handheld XRF scanner is sufficient to determine most promising scrolls for further analysis.

[Category: Science, anthropology, Archaeology, digital unwrapping, Herculaneum scrolls, Vesuvius Challenge]

— What happens when neutrinos swap identities inside a supernova?

 

at 9/16/26 9:17am

Identity-fluid particles may carry some energy out, leading to direct collapse.

[Category: Science, astrophysics, neutrinos, particle physics, Physics, supernovas]

— How chimps teach their kids tool tricks

 

at 9/15/26 10:00pm

Adults first demonstrate tool use, then hand over the implements to their infants, who copy the behavior.

[Category: Science, animal behavior, animal psychology, animal tool use, chimpanzees, primates]

— Trump EPA moves to wipe out climate rules for power plants

 

at 9/15/26 7:43am

EPA says power plant emissions have no material impact on climate change.

[Category: Policy, Science, Carbon Pollution Standards, clean air act, coal, EPA, syndication]

— This Atlantic hurricane season is about to do something that hasn't happened in 175 years

 

at 9/15/26 6:36am

But there may be a price to pay for a quiet Atlantic hurricane season.

[Category: Science, atlantic hurricane season, science, tropics]

— For the first time, the US military confirms it has deployed weapons in orbit

 

at 9/14/26 9:47pm

"The United States now has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the joint force."

[Category: Science, Space, military space, space warfare, space weapons, US Air Force, US Space Force]

— A new solar cell could generate electricity underwater

 

at 9/14/26 12:03pm

The trick isn't using perovskites—the trick is making them last.

[Category: Science, perovskites, solar cells]

— Prehistoric builders transported Devil's Arrows 11 miles

 

at 9/14/26 11:10am

Isotopic analysis revealed the most likely source to be Brimham Rocks, not the nearby Plumpton Rocks.

[Category: Science, Archaeology, Devil's Arrows, geochemistry, geology, megalithic architecture, neolithic, stonehenge]

As of 9/23/26 7:17pm. Last new 9/23/26 2:39pm.