All Stories
- Animals
Whales are full of toxic chemicals
For decades, scientists have been finding troublesome levels of PCBs, mercury and other toxic chemicals in whales and dolphins.
- Science & Society
Human evolution, biomimicry and more go on display
A new human evolution gallery and a lecture series on Europa are among science events to explore in February 2016.
- Oceans
Ocean heating doubles
Earth’s oceans now absorb twice as much heat as they did 18 years ago, with more than a third of that warmth going into the ocean depths.
- Astronomy
The votes are in: Exoplanets get new names
Arion, Galileo and Poltergeist are just three winners of a contest to name planets and suns in 20 solar systems.
- Genetics
Bubonic plague hung out in Europe
The plague bacterium Yersinia pestis may have lurked in a medieval European reservoir for at least 300 years, researchers from Germany suggest January 13 in PLOS ONE.
- Genetics
Bubonic plague hung around in Europe
DNA from plague victims suggests that a European reservoir of the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis could have fueled the medieval pandemic.
- Health & Medicine
CDC issues travel guidelines for pregnant women
Pregnant women should consider postponing travel to much of Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Health & Medicine
Low-fiber diets make gut microbes poop out
A low-fiber diet makes for low bacterial diversity in mice. A new study shows those mice can then pass a denuded microbiome on to their offspring.
- Animals
Torrent frog flirting is complicated
The courtship displays of Brazilian torrent frogs entail a subtle but sophisticated slew of songs and movements.
- Life
Search is on for missing pieces in puzzle of male genital diversity
The debate over extreme diversity of male genitalia needs to rethink the female side. And the landscape.
- Archaeology
Humans visited Arctic earlier than thought
Human weapon injuries on mammoth bones show humans were in the Arctic up to 15,000 years earlier than researchers thought.
- Neuroscience
Measuring brain waves may help predict a patient’s response to anesthesia
Brain signatures hint at whether a person will resist or succumb to anesthesia.
