All Stories
- Earth
Year in review: Pacific Plate slides over slick layer
Some explosive science offered a glimpse into how tectonic plates slide around Earth’s surface.
- Genetics
Year in review: Cancer genetics grows up
Researchers looking for mutations linked to cancer have found that not all genetic alterations should be targeted equally.
- Animals
Year in review: Woes of artificial lighting add up for wildlife
Studies published this year add dodging death, flirting and mothering to the tasks that artificial light can discombobulate in wild animals.
- Neuroscience
Year in review: ‘Speed cells’ help make navigation possible
The discovery of speed cells in the brain filled in a missing piece in the understanding of how the brain creates an internal map of the world.
- Particle Physics
Year in review: Collider creates pentaquarks
Two particles discovered in 2015 are each composed of five quarks.
- Environment
Year in review: BPA alternatives aren’t benign
Evidence is accumulating that at least one popular alternative to bisphenol A can enter the body and trigger developmental and physiological changes.
- Genetics
Year in review: Fluke extinction surprises lab
A die-off of bacteria in a carefully controlled lab experiment offered an evolutionary lesson this year: Survival depends not only on fitness but also on luck.
- Humans
Year in review: Native Americans are Kennewick kin
Ancient DNA identified 8,500-year-old Kennewick Man as a Native American relative.
- Animals
Year in review: New dates, place proposed for dogs’ beginnings
This year’s dog research suggested older origins and a new location of domestication for man's best friend.
- Neuroscience
Year in review: Gaps in brain nets might store memories
Holes in nets that surround nerve cells may store long-term memories, scientists proposed this year.
- Math
Year in review: New algorithm quickly spots identical networks
In what may be a once-in-a-decade advance, a computer scientist claimed to have devised an algorithm that efficiently solves the notorious graph isomorphism problem.
- Health & Medicine
Year in review: Ebola vaccines on the way
After more than a year of furiously developing and testing potential Ebola vaccines, two candidates have risen to the top and may soon be available for use.
