All Stories
- Life
Chicken cells have strong sense of sexual identity
In birds, hormones may not be the last word in determining males and females.
- Climate
National academies to review IPCC procedures
Global science organizations asked to help evaluate processes that produced 2007 climate report.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists offer compelling images of Gulf War illness
BLOG: Researchers have just rolled out a host of brain images — various types of magnetic resonance scans and brain-wave measurements — that they say graphically and unambiguously depict Gulf War Syndrome.
- Life
Evolutionary genetic relationships coming into focus
Researchers have filled in about 40 percent of the tree of life for mammals and birds, but other vertebrates lag behind.
- Health & Medicine
Cocktails ward off the bulge
A large study has found that middle-aged women who drink moderately gain less weight over the years compared to their teetotaling peers.
- Climate
Ancient Norse colonies hit bad climate times
Temperatures in Iceland plummeted soon after settlers arrived, a new chemical analysis suggests.
- Life
Chameleon tongues snappy even when cold
Collagen gives the creatures a bug-catching advantage in chilly conditions.
- Life
Boys and girls differ in genetic response to what mom eats
Expectant mothers’ diets may influence gene activity differently in the placentas that feed sons and daughters, a new mouse study reveals.
- Health & Medicine
Gene linked to pain perception
A common genetic variant that appears to increase sensitivity could lead to the development of better medications.
- Earth
Green-ish pesticides bee-devil honey makers
Pesticides are agents designed to rid targeted portions of the human environment of undesirable critters – such as boll weevils, roaches or carpenter ants. They’re not supposed to harm beneficials. Like bees. Yet a new study from China finds that two widely used pyrethroid pesticides – chemicals that are rather “green” as bug killers go – can significantly impair the pollinators’ reproduction.
- Math
The mutual inspiration of art and mathematics
Economics, origami and other fields trigger new and original creations.
- Earth
Country ants make it big in the city
Odorous house ants act like invading aliens when they discover urban living.
