All Stories
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LifeLife
A look at killer dolphins, plus hibernating plankton, growing mammal brains and more in this week’s news.
By Science News -
Health & MedicineClues to autism’s roots from brain study
A new analysis finds differences in genetic activity, especially in genes controlling nerve cell form and function.
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LifeHey kitty, dogs drink like cats
High-speed video shows that canines don’t simply scoop up water, they toss it into their mouths just like their feline frenemies.
By Susan Milius -
PhysicsGators go a-courtin’ with fancy physics
Their subsonic mating bellows generate Faraday waves, a phenomenon almost never seen outside the lab.
By Devin Powell -
LifeMicrobes may sky jump to new hosts
The role of microbes in cloud formation and precipitation may not be an accident of chemistry so much as an evolutionary adaptation by certain bacteria and other nonsentient beings, a scientist posited at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.
By Janet Raloff -
EarthGermy with a chance of hail
Aerial microbes can trigger precipitation and may influence global warming.
By Janet Raloff -
SpaceAtom & Cosmos
A cosmic collision heard ‘round the world, plus Saturn storms, black hole drains and more in this week’s news.
By Science News -
HumansHumans
Right is right for righties, plus trading for better decisions and the human spread to Arabia in this week’s news.
By Science News -
ChemistryNatural pain-killing chemical synthesized
Conolidine — a headache to isolate from the plant that makes it — can now be produced from scratch in the lab, opening the promising compound to study.
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LifeTarantulas shoot silk from their feet
The unique ability may give the heavy spiders a better grip and prevent deadly falls.
By Susan Milius -
PsychologyGeometric minds skip school
Villagers' understanding of lines and triangles raises questions about how people learn the properties of objects in space.
By Bruce Bower -
LifeSuspect bacterium may trigger Parkinson’s
A study in mice shows that H. pylori, the microbe that causes stomach ulcers, may also affect the brain.