All Stories
- Genetics
MicroRNAs track radiation doses
MicroRNAs in the blood may indicate radiation damage, a study of mice finds.
- Physics
Electron pairs can take the heat
Electrons have been found pairing up for the first time in a solid that is not in a superconducting state.
- Math
Computer program rivals top poker players in complex card game
A computer program held its own against the world’s best heads-up no-limit Texas Hold’em poker players.
- Health & Medicine
Birth-weight boost tied to cleaner air during Beijing Olympics
Babies whose eighth month of gestation fell during the 2008 Beijing Olympics were born slightly heavier than babies born a year earlier or later, a stark indication of the effects of pollution on development.
- Animals
Nighttime light pollution sabotages sex pheromones of moths
Artificial lighting at night can trick female moths into releasing skimpy, odd-smelling sex pheromones.
- Animals
Pruning bug genitals revives puzzle of extra-long males
Surgical approach highlights question of length mismatch in his and hers morphologies.
- Health & Medicine
Too much light slows brown fat, suggesting link with obesity
Brown fat is supposed to be the friendly kind, but making the days longer with artificial light may turn it into an enemy in the battle against obesity.
- Animals
An island in the Maldives is made of parrotfish poop
Coral-eating parrotfish create much of the sediment that a reef island is made of, a new study finds.
- Earth
Another strong quake strikes Nepal
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit eastern Nepal on May 12, just 17 days after one that killed more than 8,000 people in the region.
- Paleontology
Ancient brain fossils hint at body evolution of creepy-crawlies
Fossilized brains — found in the Burgess Shale in western Canada — offer clues to how arthropods morphed from soft- to hard-bodied animals.
- Genetics
Molecular scissors snip at cancer’s Achilles’ heel
Finding cancer’s vulnerable spots using CRISPR technology could lead to drugs that hit the disease hard.
- Astronomy
Andromeda reaches out to touch Milky Way
The Andromeda galaxy is enveloped in a wispy halo of gas that extends halfway to the Milky Way.
