All Stories
- Chemistry
Microscopy providing ‘window into the cell’ wins chemistry Nobel
Three scientists use fluorescence and lasers to see single molecules and other tiny objects.
- Health & Medicine
First Ebola patient diagnosed in U.S. dies
Thomas Eric Duncan, who contracted the virus in Liberia and fell ill four days after traveling to Dallas, died October 8.
- Animals
Zebra finches use camouflage
In an experiment, zebra finches camouflaged their nests to match the background, even though they lived in captivity and there was no danger of predators.
- Archaeology
Indonesian stencils rival age of Europe’s early cave art
Hand prints outlined in pigment were made in Southeast Asia at least 39,900 years ago, making the paintings about the same age as European cave art.
- Astronomy
High-energy radiation from stellar explosions explained
The dance of a stellar duo might explain why some novas emit gamma rays.
- Tech
Microscopy techniques win Nobel Prize in chemistry
The award goes to three scientists who developed fluorescence microscopy, which allows researchers to see single molecules just a billionth of a meter across.
- Paleontology
Plant-eating dinosaurs coexisted by munching different vegetation
Differences in skulls allowed sauropods to coexist in an arid landscape by enabling the dinosaurs to tackle different plants.
- Neuroscience
Melatonin and the watery beginnings of sleep
The tiny zooplankton Platynereis dumerilii use melatonin just as much as we do, suggesting that the origins of sleeplike behavior may lie under the sea.
- Materials Science
Blue LEDs win Nobel Prize in physics
Light-emitting diodes have led to more energy-efficient bulbs that are elbowing out incandescents.
- Math
Reproducing experiments is more complicated than it seems
Statisticians have devised a new way to measure the evidence that an experimental result has really been reproduced.
- Chemistry
Lasers wrest oxygen from carbon dioxide
By zapping oxygen molecules off carbon dioxide, an experiment hints that Earth may have had breathable air long before the dawn of plants.
- Physics
Blue light-emitting diode earns three researchers Nobel Prize in physics
The invention of blue light-emitting diodes has been awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in physics.
