Stories by Rachel Berkowitz

Wearing earplugs, hearing aids and earphones can make your own voice sound booming, but a new design dampens the din

Bubbles shaped like teardrops, flattened eggs and worms reveal ice’s inner life

Every now and then, tiny particles of antimatter strike Earth from cosmic parts unknown. A new balloon-borne experiment launching this spring may at last find their source

Medical alarms don’t have to be louder to be more effective

A new surface uses tiny gaps to supercharge bubble formation to transfer heat

Researchers harness acoustics principles to seal out noise pollution

For the first time, researchers have used sound waves to 3-D print an object from a distance—even with a wall in the way

Researchers used a smoking machine to test the intensity of marijuana rolled into joints

As “zombie” fires become more common, new research shows they arise from an unexpected source

Our galaxy’s enormous scaffolding is shaped by complex magnetic fields

Minuscule motor molecules could emit light as they journey into cells

Ice sheets amplify clues from Iceland’s hidden volcanoes

Crowdsourced vehicle data trace the contours of dangerous city temperatures

New work maps a region’s nutrient landscape

A system could aid forensic searches and crime-scene mapping by detecting reflections from human materials

A transparent rock experiment shows how stretchy molecules kick up eddies

Unified theory describes formation of huge, mysterious waves

A new tool provides detailed, 3-D chemical view of exploded star systems 

Bats’ hunting angle of approach cuts through the noise

The Chinese brake fern’s genes let it safely store the poison 

Illuminating electric lines with ultraviolet light—which birds can see—can substantially reduce crashes

Heavy metal levels in commercial booze pose no health risk to most drinkers, but the findings could prompt discussions about industry standards for alcohol

Riders in a peloton benefit more from the eyes of their peers than from a neighbor’s drag reduction 

The new technology can identify proteins that distinguish healthy cells from diseased ones