All Stories
- Astronomy
Milky Way may indeed have four spiral arms
In 2008, the galaxy lost two of its spiral arms. But it may be getting them back.
-
- Animals
China trumps Near East for signs of most ancient farm cats
Earliest evidence found for grain as a force in feline domestication.
- Chemistry
Ancient bond holds life together, literally
The chemical link between sulfur and nitrogen in animal tissues and organs may have sparked the assembly of single cells into complex animals.
- Health & Medicine
Dog dust may benefit infant immune systems
Microbes from pet-owning houses protected mice against allergy, infection.
- Animals
Protecting wildlife with legal hunting is a complicated issue
Trophy hunting is legal in some African nations, but making the system work can be difficult, especially when data is lacking on how many animals exist.
- Archaeology
Easter Island’s farmers cultivated social resilience, not collapse
A Polynesian society often presumed to have self-destructed shows signs of having carried on instead.
- Astronomy
China’s Chang’e-3 craft lands on the moon
The unmanned Chang’e-3 lunar lander and Yutu rover have made it to the moon's surface.
-
- Animals
A gory 12 days of Christmas
Insects and spiders are among the biggest gift-givers, often as part of mating, and anything from cyanide to a wad of saliva can be a present.
- Science & Society
Top 25 stories of 2013, from microbes to meteorites
This year, careful readers may have noticed a steady accumulation of revelations about the bacterial communities that call the human body home.
- Climate
Tornado intensity climbs in the United States
Larger paths of destruction may be tied to climate change.
