All Stories
- Astronomy
Afterglow alerts astronomers to gamma-ray burst
Astronomers have spotted the remnant glow from a gamma-ray burst without first observing its beam of high-energy gamma rays.
- Neuroscience
Marijuana component fights epilepsy
A buzz-free extract of marijuana could help epilepsy patients whose seizures resist other treatments.
- Physics
Rubidium atoms used to record coldest temperature — ever
A swarm of rubidium atoms has been cooled to about 50 trillionths of a kelvin, making it the coldest substance ever measured.
- Plants
Plants suck in nicotine from nearby smokers
Peppermint plants can build up nicotine from tobacco dropped on their soil or smoked indoors.
- Science & Society
The Angelina effect should be about knowing your cancer risk
Angelina Jolie’s public message about her medical decisions related to cancer is about knowing your risks for disease, not hers.
- Astronomy
Source of puzzling cosmic signals found — in the kitchen
One type of radio burst has a pretty mundane origin: prematurely opened microwave ovens.
- Psychology
Saying ‘I’ and ‘me’ all the time doesn’t make you a narcissist
People who utter lots of first-person singular pronouns such as "I" and "me" score no higher on narcissism questionnaires than peers who engage in little "I"-talk.
- Environment
Oil from BP spill probably sprayed out in tiny drops
Oil that gushed from the well in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill may have shattered into tiny droplets, with high pressures doing the work of dispersants.
- Neuroscience
Serotonin and the science of sex
Some scientists say that low serotonin makes male mice mate with males and females. Others disagree. In the end, it’s not about sexual preference, but about how science works.
- Genetics
Mountain gorilla genome reveals inbreeding
Mountain gorillas are highly inbred, with good and bad consequences.
- Paleontology
Fossil reveals terror bird’s power
Bones of a new terror bird confirm the creatures used their beaks to hatchet their prey but also raise questions about what drove the birds extinct.
- Paleontology
Tyrannosaurs fought and ate each other
Evidence from a tyrannosaur skull and jaw fossils add to the argument that the ancient reptiles fought and weren’t above scavenging their own.
