All Stories
- Animals
Plain ol’ Texas rat snakes basically match vipers for speed
Rattlesnakes and other vipers are not the fastest fangs in the West.
- Materials Science
Playing with building blocks for metamaterial design
Legos show promise as a low-cost method to assist scientists in developing novel metamaterials.
- Tech
Computer program bests world champion 4-1 in strategy game Go
Google DeepMind’s Go-playing computer program AlphaGo has topped Lee Sedol, the world’s reigning Go player, in a five-game match in South Korea.
- Ecosystems
Australian fairy circles first to be found outside Africa
Strange patterns of grassland bald spots called fairy circles show up in Western Australia.
- Animals
Snake fungal disease spreading in eastern United States
A decade after snake fungal disease was first discovered, it has now been found in its 16th U.S. state.
- Planetary Science
Wandering Jupiter could have swept inner solar system clean
If Jupiter formed close to the sun and then wandered out, that might explain why there are no planets interior to Mercury’s orbit.
- Paleontology
New tyrannosaur bridges gap from medium to monstrous
Horse-sized Timurlengia euotica had a brain and ears like its bigger relative Tyrannosaurus rex, which lived millions of years later.
- Anthropology
Ancient DNA reveals who is in Spain’s ‘pit of bones’ cave
Ancient DNA shows Neandertals lived in northern Spain 430,000 years ago; the early date raises new questions about Neandertals’ origins.
- Ecosystems
FDA predicts no significant environmental impact from GM mosquitoes
The FDA has taken a step in the process of deciding whether to allow the first test release in the United States of genetically modified mosquitoes to fight diseases such as Zika.
- Materials Science
New process encourages ice to slip, slide away
Researchers discover new process for making durable ice-phobic materials.
- Planetary Science
ExoMars mission to search for signs of life on the Red Planet
The next mission to Mars will tally gases in the planet’s atmosphere and test technologies for a 2018 rover.
- Math
Experts issue warning on problems with P values
A report from the American Statistical Association warns against misinterpretation and misuse of a common statistical test.
