All Stories
- Astronomy
Galaxy’s gas molecules reveal its structure
Astronomers have tracked carbon monoxide flowing both toward and away from NGC 1433’s central supermassive black hole.
- Animals
Lurking males lead to hard-to-fertilize mouse eggs
Mixed-sex society raises resistance to sperm in what may be a long-running arms race between the sexes over fertilization.
- Physics
New limit placed on physics constant
An analysis of how much the fine structure constant varies with the density of matter may help scientists determine whether the parameter changes with time.
- Life
Scorpion genome decoded
An analysis of an arachnid’s DNA reveals how the animal survives its own venom.
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- Health & Medicine
Audio therapy may avert chemo-induced hearing loss
Mice exposed to loud sound before getting chemotherapy preserve valuable cells in the inner ear, a new study shows.
- Life
Flashy drug spotlights infection
Doctors may be able to watch for invading microbes with a fluorescent antibiotic.
- Life
Broccoli compound protects rats from lethal radiation
Treatment shields healthy cells from gamma ray attack but lets tumors die.
- Health & Medicine
Electrodes dupe brain into feeling touch
Stimulating the right neuron at the right time gave monkeys the sensation of contact.
- Animals
Dogs pick up robots’ social cues
Dogs were more likely to pay attention to a PeopleBot robot — a machine with a laptop head and Mickey Mouse–style hands — after watching it walk, talk and shake hands with humans.
- Genetics
Male zebrafish sex tool stops fin regeneration
Tiny, spiked structures on the pectoral fins of male zebrafish help them hold females steady while mating. However, the structures produce a protein that seems to hinder the fish’s ability to regenerate fins.
- Science & Society
Scarcity
Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir explain why having too little means so much.
