All Stories
- Animals
Baby birds’ brains selectively respond to dads’ songs
The neurons of young male birds are more active when listening to songs sung by dad than by strangers, a new study finds.
- Neuroscience
Newborn brain has to learn how to feed itself
Nerve cells in newborn mice can’t yet feed themselves.
- Health & Medicine
In malaria battle, indoor bug spraying has unintended consequence
Years of spraying indoors may inadvertently have push malaria-spreading mosquitoes to venture outdoors for a bite.
By Susan Milius - Life
Benign-turned-deadly bacterium baffles scientists
Outbreak of Elizabethkingia continues to grow as disease investigators struggle to find source.
By Laura Beil - Life
For cleanest hands, squirt and count to 30
Rubbing hands for 30 seconds is the most effective way to use hand sanitizer, a study of health care workers finds.
By Laura Beil - Life
For tooth decay microbes, many routes lead to kids’ mouths
Mothers aren’t their children’s only source of bacteria that cause dental cavities, new research shows.
By Laura Beil - Math
Courts’ use of statistics should be put on trial
Bayesian statistics offer a useful tool for avoiding fallacies in legal reasoning.
- Animals
Three-toed sloths are even more slothful than two-toed sloths
The three-toed sloth Bradypus variegatus has the lowest field metabolic rate ever recorded, a new study finds.
- Oceans
Deep-sea hydrothermal vents more abundant than thought
Ecosystem-supporting hydrothermal vents are much more abundant along the ocean floor than previously thought.
- Physics
More events needed to pin down gravitational waves backstory
As more black hole collisions are found, researchers hope to piece together how and where these destructive duos form.
- Microbes
Tests turn up dicey bagged ice
Tests of bagged ice found that 19 percent exceeded recommended thresholds for bacterial contamination.
By Laura Beil - Astronomy
Bulging stars mess with planet’s seasons
On planets orbiting rapidly rotating stars, the seasons can get a little strange.