All Stories
- Chemistry
Battery blueprint promises green energy storage
A device that relies on organic molecules could cheaply bank power from renewable sources.
- Astronomy
Supernova is a dust factory
Grains of matter spewed by stellar explosion offer clues to early star formation.
- Health & Medicine
Babies tune in to happy sounds
High pitched, cutesy voices prove irresistible to infants.
- Microbes
Me and my microbiome
Tina Hesman Saey tries out new services offering clients a peek at their own bacteria.
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Social networks stay small despite social networking
When adding new friends to social circles, people unconsciously bump others out, keeping social circles small and finite.
- Astronomy
Unusual three-star system promises new test of gravity
A unique stellar threesome could help astronomers test the leading theory of gravity to unprecedented precision.
- Archaeology
Animal mummies were a message direct to the gods
A new theory about the purpose of animals mummified by ancient Egyptians proposes that the cats, ibises and other dead critters were more than just simple sacrifices.
- Life
Deadly influenza could strike aboriginal groups hardest
Native Alaskans and Australians tend to lack potent flu-fighting immune cells.
- Neuroscience
Hormone hampers effects of marijuana
Study of pot-blocking brain chemical in rodents could lead to new treatments for cannabis addiction.
- Animals
Flightless birds face extinction
New Zealand’s flightless birds have limped through the last few decades, but conservation efforts have had some success.
- Microbes
Gut bacteria respect diets, not borders
Malawian and Guahibo gut microbiomes resembled those of herbivorous mammals, while American guts were more similar to carnivores’.
- Physics
Google search fails to find any sign of time travelers
A search of the Internet for signs of time travelers from the future fares no better than the party hosted by Stephen Hawking that nobody attended.
