Just How Dangerous Is the 'Murder Hornet'?

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May 06, 2020

Dear Reader, You likely heard a lot about "murder hornets" this week. Well, it turns out the buzz might be a bit overblown—when it comes to attacking humans. These predators are infamous for decimating honey bee colonies and have the potential to devastate U.S. bee populations, which have already been declining. Find out more about these giant, vicious insects in our lead story. In space news, astronomers say they have discovered the closest black hole to Earth, just 1,000 light-years away in a system visible to the naked eye. Also, remember the declassified UFO videos the Pentagon released last week? Astrophysicist Katie Mack gives her take. And lastly, an article from our May issue explores why being a woman is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Environment Just How Dangerous Is the 'Murder Hornet'? Its sting is excruciating to people, but it is a bigger threat to honeybees vital for agriculture By Paige Embry

Space Astronomers May Have Found the Closest Black Hole to Earth At just 1,000 light-years away, an object in a nearby star system could be our nearest known black hole—but not everyone is convinced By Jonathan O'Callaghan

Natural Disasters Government Watchdog Chides FEMA for Lax Flood Enforcement The agency fell well short of its goal of evaluating local flood control efforts every five years By Thomas Frank,E&E News

Physics Physicists Criticize Stephen Wolfram's 'Theory of Everything' The iconoclastic researcher and entrepreneur wants more attention for his big ideas. But so far researchers are less than receptive By Adam Becker

Space A Word about Those UFO Videos I'm an astrophysicist, but that doesn't mean I have a motivation to debunk them By Katie Mack

Physics Did Galileo Truly Say, 'And Yet It Moves'? A Modern Detective Story An astrophysicist traces genealogy and art history to discover the origin of the famous motto

Behavior & Society People Don't Have to Succumb to Anxiety during this Pandemic That emotion is natural in a situation like this, but there are ways to mitigate it By David H. Rosmarin

Neurological Health Menopause Predisposes a Fifth of Women to Alzheimer's Being female is a risk factor for Alzheimer's. Why? By Jena Pincott

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FROM THE ARCHIVE Comets Prevent Ether from Accumulating in Space Originally published in January 1859 | May 2020

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