All Stories
- Animals
Probiotics helped great star corals fend off a deadly disease
A probiotic paste prevented the spread of stony coral tissue loss disease, but the treatment is still a proof-of-concept, not a cure.
- Earth
Small earthquakes can have a big impact on the movements of major faults
Small and far-off earthquakes can stifle the spread of large motions on some of the world’s biggest faults.
- Animals
Flamingos create precise water vortices in a shrimp-hunting frenzy
Nashville Zoo flamingos reveal the oddball birds generate many types of vortices to eat. The swirls could be an inspiration to human engineers.
- Plants
Trees ‘remember’ times of water abundance and scarcity
Spruce trees that experienced long-term droughts were more resistant to future ones, while pines acclimatized to wet periods were more vulnerable.
- Animals
Aussie cockatoos use their beaks and claws to turn on water fountains
Parrots living in Sydney have learned how to turn on water fountains for a drink. It's the first such drinking strategy seen in the birds.
- Particle Physics
Muons’ magnetism matches theory, easing an enduring physics conundrum
A puzzle over muons’ magnetic properties could have broken the standard model. But the theory bounced back.
- Health & Medicine
U.S. moms say their mental health is getting worse
A national survey finds that mothers of children ages 0 to 17 years report mental health declines from 2016 to 2023.
- Astronomy
A dwarf galaxy just might upend the Milky Way’s predicted demise
The Milky Way may merge with the Large Magellanic Cloud in 2 billion years, not Andromeda, contrary to previous findings.
- Chemistry
Lotions and perfumes affect the air near our skin
The personal care products suppress reactions between skin oils and ozone. It's not clear how, or if, this chemistry change might impact human health.
- Animals
How luna moths grow extravagant wings
Warm temperatures, not just predator pressure, may favor luna moths’ long bat-fooling streamers, a geographic analysis of iNaturalist pics shows.
- Planetary Science
Venus’ tectonics may be actively reshaping its surface
Circular landforms speckling the Venusian surface may be the work of tectonic activity.
- Anthropology
Males of this ancient human cousin weren’t always bigger than females
Molecular evidence from a 2-million-year-old southern African hominid species indicates sex and genetic differences in P. robustus.
