All Stories
- Science & Society
‘Race Unmasked’ explores science’s racial past, present
Eugenics is far behind us, but a health historian sees few reasons to believe science is postracial.
- Planetary Science
Comet lander’s exploration cut short
The comet lander Philae made history with its touchdown on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, but a series of small hiccups prevented the robot from recharging its batteries, giving it only about 57 hours to explore the alien world.
- Earth
Earth’s most abundant mineral finally has a name
Bridgmanite, the planet’s most common mineral, christened after traces found in 1879 meteorite.
- Health & Medicine
Ebola vaccine shows no major side effects in small study
An experimental vaccine against Ebola virus has tested well in people, researchers report.
- Health & Medicine
Turning the immune system on cancer
A new class of drugs uncloaks tumors in some patients, awakening home-grown cells to fight several cancer types.
- Neuroscience
Dogs’ brains may process speech similar to humans’
When it comes to interpreting human speech, dogs may have brain-hemisphere biases similar to people’s.
- Animals
10 bites of turkey trivia for your holiday meal
Will turkeys really drown if they look up in a rainstorm? Can they fly? Where did the domestic turkey come from? Learn answers to these questions and more.
- Neuroscience
The molecular path of best resilience
Many studies focus on susceptibility to stress and how it triggers depression. But a new study highlights a protein important in resilience, showing that resisting stress takes work, too.
- Animals
Vulture guts are filled with noxious bacteria
Vultures’ guts are chock-full of bacteria that sicken other creatures.
- Tech
Blu-ray Discs get repurposed to improve solar cells
Polymer solar cells capture more sunlight when they are imprinted with movies’ and TV shows’ Blu-ray Disc etchings.
- Archaeology
Golden Fleece myth was based on real events, geologists contend
Jason’s legend grew out of long-distance trade with people who used sheepskins to collect gold.
- Genetics
Orchid genome may save highly endangered species
The sequenced genome of the orchid Phalaenopsis equestris offers some hints about a different form of photosynthesis and how the flowers of the plant got their specialized shape.
