All Stories

  1. Math

    The tell-tale anecdote

    An Edgar Allan Poe story reveals a flaw in game theory.

    By
  2. Physics

    Galaxy Zoo’s blue mystery (part I)

    A Dutch science teacher found a novel celestial object that had eluded the notice of astronomers.

    By
  3. Health & Medicine

    Stomaching diabetes

    A new way to treat diabetes could recruit cells in the gut to make insulin when the pancreas can’t.

    By
  4. Climate

    Now that’s abrupt

    Past abrupt climate change in the North Atlantic could have started as far south as China, scientists say.

    By
  5. Health & Medicine

    Take a chill pill, T cell

    Targeting a receptor on immune cells may hold promise for treating multiple sclerosis and asthma.

    By
  6. Computing

    Video Search à la Web

    Finding videos on the web can still be a hit-or-miss proposition.

    By
  7. Health & Medicine

    Coloring the body

    Color MRI scans may one day be possible, thanks to microscopic, tunable magnets.

    By
  8. Agriculture

    A vanilla Vanilla

    The orchid that gives us vanilla beans has startlingly low genetic diversity, suggesting crops might be susceptible to pathogens, researchers report.

    By
  9. Space

    Twinkle, twinkle little planet

    Scientists could use scattered light to identify habitable extrasolar planets.

    By
  10. Anthropology

    Numbers beyond words

    New research with Amazonian villagers suggests that their language lacks number words but that they still comprehend precise quantities of objects.

    By
  11. Health & Medicine

    Wishful thinking

    Male athletes who think they are getting growth hormone claim to feel better and score higher in a jumping test while on a placebo.

    By
  12. Health & Medicine

    Where funny faces come from

    Making a face might have helped human ancestors survive.

    By