All Stories
- Animals
RNA editing helps octopuses cope with the cold
California two-spot octopuses tweak the proteins they make, potentially to help maintain brain function when temperatures dip.
- Life
50 years ago, flesh-eating screwworms pushed scientists to mass produce flies
"Fly factories” dreamed up in the early 1970s have helped North and Central America keep screwworms in check for decades.
- Astronomy
The Parker Solar Probe may have spotted the origin of high-speed solar winds
Kinks in the magnetic fields near the surface of the sun appear to be the cause of fast-moving flows in the solar wind.
- Astronomy
A simulation of a dying star shows how it could create gravitational waves
Massive jets and an expanding cocoon of debris from a collapsing star could be a source of never-before-seen ripples in spacetime.
- Animals
When and why did masturbation evolve in primates? A new study provides clues
In a first-of-its-kind comparative study, researchers show that primates were masturbating 40 million years ago and that the behavior may help males keep their sperm fresh.
- Life
A gene therapy shot might keep cats from getting pregnant without being spayed
Even after mating with fertile males, females given the cat contraceptive, which targets an ovulation-preventing hormone, did not get pregnant.
- Ecosystems
Marjorie Weber explores plant-protecting ants and other wonders of evolution
Cooperation across the tree of life is an understudied driver of evolution and biodiversity, Marjorie Weber says.
- Anthropology
Homo naledi may have dug cave graves and carved marks into cave walls
Proposed discoveries of humanlike activities by these ancient, small-brained hominids have elicited skepticism from some researchers.
- Life
Air pollution monitoring may accidentally help scientists track biodiversity
Filters in air monitoring facilities inadvertently capture environmental DNA, which could give scientists a new tool to track local plants and animals.
- Math
A ‘vampire einstein’ tile outdoes mathematicians’ latest feat
A newfound shape covers an infinite plane with a pattern that doesn’t repeat and without mirror images of the shape.
- Astronomy
Weird black holes may hold secrets of the early universe
Big black holes in little galaxies, rogue black holes and other behemoths could offer clues to cosmic evolution.
- Life
Coral reefs host millions of bacteria, revealing Earth’s hidden biodiversity
A new estimate of microbial life living in Pacific reefs is similar to global counts, suggesting many more microbes call Earth home than thought.
