All Stories
- Astronomy
High-energy radiation from stellar explosions explained
The dance of a stellar duo might explain why some novas emit gamma rays.
- 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.
- 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.
- Planetary Science
Sun may make most of the water on moon’s surface
A constant stream of particles from the sun bombarding the moon's surface may be the source of most lunar water.
- Anthropology
Mysterious foreigner may have ruled ancient Maya kingdom
Bone chemistry suggests one of the early rulers of the Maya kingdom Copan and his retainers had foreign credentials.
- Neuroscience
Neuroscientists garner Nobel for discovering brain’s ‘inner GPS’
Three researchers who found brain cells that allow rats to orient themselves in space have won the 2014 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.
