All Stories
- Animals
Starving mantis females lie to make a meal of a male
When in desperate straits, a female false garden mantid turns into a femme fatale, emitting false chemical cues that lures in a male to eat.
- Chemistry
Retraction looms for brute-force chemistry study
A 2011 study on tearing apart ring-shaped molecules is set to be retracted following a misconduct investigation.
By Beth Mole - Planetary Science
Grazing crater rim may have saved comet lander
Bumping off the rim of a crater probably saved the robotic comet Philae from a cold, dark death, a new analysis of images suggests.
- Science & Society
This study of hype in press releases will change journalism
A survey of press releases and their related scientific studies shows that hype may creep from press releases to news coverage. But this doesn’t give anyone at any stage of the news cycle a pass.
- Astronomy
Revived Kepler telescope finds first exoplanet
NASA’s Kepler space telescope finds its first planet — a possible super-Earth — since getting a second chance at life.
- Animals
It’s bat vs. bat in aerial jamming wars
In nighttime flying duels, Mexican free-tailed bats make short, wavering sirenlike sounds that jam each other’s sonar.
By Susan Milius - Archaeology
Ancient Egyptian blue glass beads reached Scandinavia
Chemical analysis of Danish discoveries extends northern reach of Bronze Age trade.
By Bruce Bower - Animals
Lucky break documents warbler tornado warning
Warblers fitted with data collecting devices for other reasons reveal early and extreme measures when dodging April’s tornado outbreak.
By Susan Milius - Earth
South Napa earthquake revived bone-dry streams
The South Napa earthquake freed groundwater trapped in nearby hills, revitalizing previously dry streams.
- Animals
Crows may be able to make analogies
Crows with little training pass a lab test for analogical reasoning that requires matching similar or different icons.
By Susan Milius - Chemistry
Nylon goes green
A new simple chemical reaction makes manufacturing nylon less harmful to the planet.
By Beth Mole - Environment
Air pollution linked to autism
Air pollution may double a pregnant woman's risk of having a child with autism, a new study suggests.