All Stories
- Math
Science is heroic, with a tragic (statistical) flaw
Science falls short of its own standards because of the mindless use of ritualistic statistical tests.
- Animals
Centipede discovered in caves 1,000 meters belowground
A newly discovered centipede species lives deep underground.
- Science & Society
Your photos reveal more than where you went on vacation
By mining public databases of people’s photos, researchers can explore changing landscapes and tourist behavior.
- Animals
Flatworm can self-fertilize by stabbing itself in the head
Hermaphroditic flatworms with hypodermic-style mating get sharp with themselves.
- Animals
Heat turns wild genetic male reptiles into functional females
Genetic male bearded dragons changed to females by overheating in the wild can still breed successfully.
- Health & Medicine
E-cigarette reports provide science that society craves
Research on vaping fills a crucial need in science’s service to society: providing the best information possible in a timely manner, so people can make wise choices.
- Life
Puzzling cosmic signals, processed food defined and more reader feedback
Readers sort out a definition for processed food, discuss the benefits of tinkering with human DNA and more.
- Astronomy
A loopy look at sunspots
In visible light, sunspots look like dark blotches that often expel flares of searing plasma. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory offers a different view.
- Climate
Pink salmon threatened by freshwater acidification
Ocean acidification gets more attention, but freshwater systems are also acidifying. That’s a problem for young salmon, a new study finds.
- Health & Medicine
Clot-snatching stroke treatment gets the green light
Snatching blood clots from the brain with a wire mesh stent is a new stroke treatment that is now supported in the United States.
- Neuroscience
Old fruit flies’ swagger restored with brain chemical dopamine
Replenishing the chemical communicator dopamine to a handful of nerve cells makes old flies feel frisky again.
- Health & Medicine
Genetic tweak turned plague bacterium deadly
Two genetic changes allowed plague bacteria to cause deadly lung infections and pandemic disease.
