All Stories

Health & Medicine

Common heart treatment fails to help

People prescribed beta blockers are no more likely to avoid a heart attack or stroke than those not getting them.

Life

Ants’ hive mind

The insects make better decisions collectively than when on their own.

Humans

Building a funner mousetrap

Middle school science champs solve problems with style.

Science & Society

Misconduct prompts most retractions

Two-thirds of scientific papers pulled from journals are for fraud, suspected fraud and plagiarism.

Earth

Bad days for dinosaurs began long before the last of them died

Space

Atom & Cosmos

The gassy halo engulfing the Milky Way, a comet in the neighborhood, and extraterrestrial rocks as the source of life on Earth.

Astronomy

No companion in supernova debris

Explosion probably resulted from two white dwarfs.

Health & Medicine

Male DNA found in female brains

Postmortem sampling suggests fetal cells can slip through the blood-brain barrier.

Astronomy

Curiosity goes to the flow

Sent to Mars in search of water and other evidence of habitability, the rover appears to have landed in a dry streambed.

Chemistry

Japanese lab lays claim to element 113

With the latest observation of a superheavy atom, a chemical catfight looms over who will get to name it.

Tech

Degradable devices vanish after use

Technique combines silicon, magnesium and silk for medical implants, transistors and digital cameras that can melt away.

Astronomy

Team glimpses black hole’s secrets

In the distant galaxy M87, new observations about structure’s rotational speed and jets show the potential of a budding telescope network.