GoKawiilConcerns about boys are widespread, but evidence shows that worries are best understood in the context of all young people. Plus, the month’s best science images and a whole new way that vertebrates slurp.
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Credit: Nelson Milano/CUPOTY
Entomologist Nelson Milano came across chocolate slime mould (Stemonitis splendens) on a decaying log in Pennsylvania. “I’ve always been fascinated by minute organisms, and this looked like a sci-fi creature to me,” says Milano. The shot was shortlisted for the Close-up Photographer of the Year challenge under the theme of death and decay.
See more of the month’s sharpest science shots, selected by Nature’s photo team.
Nature | Leisurely scroll
For the first time, physicists have matched detailed quantum-computer simulations to experimental data gathered from work with solid materials. Two teams of physicists achieved the feat independently: one simulated the physical properties of a magnetic material, such as its heat capacity, and the other modelled a different material’s response to being excited into a range of energy states. Both agreed with experimental data. The work “sets the stage for a new standard in the application of quantum simulation to materials science,” says theoretical physicist Daniel González-Cuadra.
Nature | 5 min read
Reference: arXiv preprint 1 & preprint 2 (not peer reviewed)
Sunbirds (Nectariniidae) drink nectar from flowers by generating suction with their tongues — the first example of a vertebrate creating suction without changing the shape of its mouth. As they drink, the birds repeatedly press their tongue against the roof of their beak and then release it. This motion flattens and re-forms a v-shaped groove along the length of the tongue, which researchers believe creates suction that pulls nectar into the birds’ mouths.
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