All Stories
-
Flight delayed: There’s a coyote on the runway
A new study tallies up airport incidents involving carnivores and finds coyotes are the biggest threat.
-
Planetary ScienceComet 67P shows no sign of magnetism
Philae found no evidence of a magnetic field on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, but did send back some clues about its rough landing.
-
AstronomyAfterglow 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.
By Andrew Grant -
NeuroscienceMarijuana component fights epilepsy
A buzz-free extract of marijuana could help epilepsy patients whose seizures resist other treatments.
By Nathan Seppa -
PhysicsRubidium 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.
By Andrew Grant -
PlantsPlants suck in nicotine from nearby smokers
Peppermint plants can build up nicotine from tobacco dropped on their soil or smoked indoors.
By Susan Milius -
Science & SocietyThe 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.
-
AstronomySource of puzzling cosmic signals found — in the kitchen
One type of radio burst has a pretty mundane origin: prematurely opened microwave ovens.
-
PsychologySaying ‘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.
By Bruce Bower -
EnvironmentOil 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.
By Beth Mole -
NeuroscienceSerotonin 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.
-
GeneticsMountain gorilla genome reveals inbreeding
Mountain gorillas are highly inbred, with good and bad consequences.