Here be serpents
NEAR the centre of the Milky Way lurks something at least as weird as dark matter, but definitely visible. Through their radio telescopes, astronomers can see a bright strand, 150 light years long and a couple wide, and kinked in two places. They call it the Snake.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Here be serpents”
From the March 8th 1997 edition
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Deforestation is costing Brazilian farmers millions
Without trees to circulate moisture, the land is getting hotter and drier
Robots can learn new actions faster thanks to AI techniques
They could soon show their moves in settings from car factories to care homes
Scientists are learning why ultra-processed foods are bad for you
A mystery is finally being solved
Scientific publishers are producing more papers than ever
Concerns about some of their business models are building
The two types of human laugh
One is caused by tickling; the other by everything else
Scientists are building a catalogue of every type of cell in our bodies
It has thus far shed light on everything from organ formation to the causes of inflammation