All Stories
- Plants
A major crop pest can make tomato plants lie to their neighbors
Insects called silverleaf whiteflies exploit tomatoes’ ability to detect damage caused to nearby plants.
- Planetary Science
Metal asteroids may have once had iron-spewing volcanoes
Two groups of scientists introduce the idea of “ferrovolcanism,” or iron volcanoes, that could have occurred on metal asteroids like Psyche.
- Science & Society
This Greek philosopher had the right idea, just too few elements
The ancient Greek philosopher Empedocles wrongly believed matter to consist of just four elements, but he grasped the basic idea of forces governing unchanging matter.
- Psychology
What we know and don’t know about how mass trauma affects mental health
Three people connected to mass shootings have recently killed themselves. Here’s what we know, and don’t, about the lingering effects of mass trauma.
- Animals
Tiny pumpkin toadlets have glowing bony plates on their backs
Pumpkin toadlets are the first frogs found to have fluorescent bony plates that are visible through their skin under ultraviolet light.
- Paleontology
New fossils may capture the minutes after the dinosaur-killing asteroid impact
North Dakota fossils may depict the aftermath of the dinosaur-killing asteroid, but controversial claims about the breadth of the find are unproven.
- Materials Science
Bacteria can be coaxed into making the toughest kind of spider silk
Lab-altered bacteria have made a copy of a spider’s strongest silk strands, which could one day be used to make more sturdy materials.
- Anthropology
Foreigners may have conquered ancient Egypt without invading it
Dental evidence suggests female Hyksos immigrants married into power.
- Genetics
A Nobel Prize winner argues banning CRISPR babies won’t work
Human gene editing needs responsible regulation, but a ban isn’t the way to go, says Nobel laureate David Baltimore.
- Health & Medicine
Pumping may be linked to an altered microbial mix in breast milk
Beneficial bacteria are more abundant in the milk of mothers whose babies feed straight from the breast.
- Physics
The LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors are back on
Souped-up instruments could spot never-before-seen sources of gravitational waves.
- Health & Medicine
In ‘The Perfect Predator,’ viruses vanquish a deadly superbug
In ‘The Perfect Predator,’ an epidemiologist recounts the battle to save her husband from an antibiotic-resistant infection.
