All Stories
- Animals
Mosses hitch rides on the wings of birds
Seeds may travel from far north to south hidden in the feathers of migratory birds.
- Neuroscience
Visualization offers view of a nerve cell’s dispatch center
To get a closer look at how messages move in the brain, researchers created a 3-D visualization that provides a clearer view of how nerve cells communicate.
- Health & Medicine
Ulcer microbe changes quickly to avoid immune attack
During the initial weeks of infection, Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium that causes stomach ulcers, mutates at a high rate, apparently to evade the body’s defenses.
By Nathan Seppa - Life
Genetic mutation quenches quantum quirk in algae
Studying algae that can and cannot use quantum coherence to harvest light could lead to better organic solar cells and quantum-based electronic devices.
- Environment
E-cigarettes may inflame lungs as much as cigarettes do
Acute lung impacts of e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes are nearly identical, new study finds.
By Janet Raloff - Neuroscience
Neurons pull together as a brain learns
Learning and memory in rats is linked with increases in cortical oscillations, or brain cells firing off in groups, a new study shows.
- Physics
Energy-efficient laser works at room temperature
A room-temperature polariton laser, which requires little electricity, could improve electronics and medical devices.
By Andrew Grant - Neuroscience
Brain signal reappears after ADHD symptoms fade
In adults who no longer have ADHD, brain synchrony appears.
- Health & Medicine
Obesity on the rise globally
Some 2.1 billion people, almost 30 percent of the world’s population, are overweight or obese.
- Health & Medicine
‘Bionic’ pancreas shows promise in diabetes test
Tests of a “bionic pancreas” confirm that the wearable devices can maintain blood glucose levels without the need for finger pricks or insulin shots in patients with type 1 diabetes.
- Quantum Physics
How to build a quantum-entangled superclock
A blueprint for a quantum-entangled superclock suggests that such a device could enable startlingly precise measurements of Earth’s terrain.
- Paleontology
‘Dinosaurs Without Bones’ gives glimpse of long-gone life
Ichnologist Anthony J. Martin explains his research piecing together dinosaurs’ lives from footprints and other traces.
By Sid Perkins