All Stories
- Plants
Genetic switch offers clue to why grasses are survival masters
Scientists have identified a genetic switch that helps grasses regulate their carbon dioxide intake.
- Paleontology
Under lasers, a feathered dino shows some skin
Laser-stimulated fluorescence reveals detailed images of soft tissue in a feathered dinosaur from 160 million years ago.
- Animals
Shocking stories tell tale of London Zoo’s founding
In The Zoo, Isobel Charman pens a gripping narrative of the London Zoo’s early days, when workers had a hard time keeping animals alive.
- Physics
To understand rivers, let physics be your guide
Where the River Flows unites physics and environmental science to explain Earth’s waterways.
- Ecosystems
A king snake’s strength is in its squeeze
King snakes feast on other, larger snakes, perhaps thanks to superior constricting abilities, new research suggests.
- Neuroscience
Smartphones may be changing the way we think
We rely on our digital devices to connect with others and for memory and navigation shortcuts. What is that doing to our brains?
- Animals
Detachable scales turn this gecko into an escape artist
A new species of gecko evades predators by shedding its scaly armor.
- Science & Society
White House budget plan would slash science
President Donald Trump’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2018 includes some big cuts for science.
- Earth
Remnants of Earth’s original crust preserve time before plate tectonics
Canadian rocks containing bits from 4.2 billion years ago suggest that full-fledged plate tectonics had a late start.
- Animals
How one enslaving wasp eats through another
A wasp that forces oaks to grow a gall gets tricked into digging an escape tunnel for its killers.
- Physics
Superfluid helium behaves like black holes
Simulations of superfluid helium show it follows the same unusual entropy rule that black holes do.
- Animals
Tropical bedbugs outclimb common bedbugs
A study of bedbug traps and feet names finds that tropical bedbugs are much better at scaling slippery walls than common bedbugs.
