All Stories
- Animals
Mystery deepens for what made tarantulas blue
Blue hair on tarantulas shows what evolution does with iridescence that females probably don’t care about.
- Planetary Science
A defenseless Mars is losing its atmosphere
Measurements of Mars’ atmosphere leaking into space could help scientists explain how the Red Planet lost its once life-friendly climate.
- Archaeology
Mystery still surrounds Neandertals
Neandertals’ relationship to modern humans is still a matter of debate.
- Astronomy
More mysterious extragalactic signals detected
Five more fast radio bursts from other galaxies have shown up and one of them is a double.
- Animals
For a python, every meal is like Thanksgiving
Burmese pythons rarely eat, but when they do, they gorge. Unlike humans, pythons have adaptations that allow them to survive on huge meals.
- Genetics
Water bears are genetic mash-ups
Drying out may help tardigrades soak up new DNA, which in turn aids the water bears in withstanding stress.
- Life
DNA doubled in conifer ancestors
The genomes of conifers — pine, cypress and yew trees — doubled twice in the distant past.
- Neuroscience
Taste is all in your head
By targeting certain nerve cells in a mouse’s brain, scientists made plain water turn bitter or sweet.
- Physics
Final chapter published in decades-long Gravity Probe B project
It took more than 50 years, but an experiment testing general relativity has finally come to a close.
- Microbes
Gut microbes signal when dinner is done
Helpful E. coli bacteria that live in the guts of animals produce proteins that can decrease an animal’s appetite only 20 minutes after receiving nutrients
- Plants
Conifer ancestors had a double dose of DNA
The genomes of conifers — pine, cypress and yew trees — doubled twice in the distant past.
- Earth
Don’t flip out: Earth’s magnetic poles aren’t about to switch
Earth’s waning magnetic field is returning to its long-term average, not heading toward a catastrophic magnetic reversal, new lava analysis suggests.
