All Stories
- Archaeology
Fire used regularly for cooking for 300,000 years
Israeli cave yields a fireplace where Stone Age crowd may have cooked up social change.
By Bruce Bower - Life
Fins and wings alike share design features
Animals have adapted a number of different ways to swim and fly. But new research suggests that wings, fins and flukes share a couple of basic design parameters.
- Psychology
Lend an ear to science
Pop music hit maker Clive Davis knows a catchy song when he hears one. Now an app aims to define that elusive quality more concretely.
- Life
Questions raised about new method for making stem cells
A January study showing that stem cells can be produced by dipping adult cells in a simple acid bath is now under investigation.
- Health & Medicine
Mesh best for hernia repair
Data from nine studies show fewer recurrences than fixes with sutures only.
By Nathan Seppa - Life
Big study raises worries about bees trading diseases
Pathogens may jump from commercial colonies to the wild.
By Susan Milius - Astronomy
While exploding, supernovas not spherical
X-rays reveal uneven allotment of element made by blowup.
By Andrew Grant - Health & Medicine
Highlights from the International Stroke Conference
Clotting risk after pregnancy, driving after a stroke and more presented February 12-14 in San Diego.
By Nathan Seppa - Quantum Physics
Einstein was wrong about spooky quantum entanglement
Einstein’s biggest blunder wasn’t about vacuum energy in space, but in confusing people about quantum entanglement.
- Oceans
Unknowns linger for sea mining
Scientists struggle to predict underwater digs’ effects on sea life.
By Beth Mole - Animals
Elephants offer a reassuring touch in stressful times
Elephants seem to comfort their comrades in times of need, hinting that the animals may have the capacity for complicated mental feats such as empathy.
- Animals
Why was Marius, the euthanized giraffe, ever born?
The problem of ‘surplus’ zoo animals reveals a divide on animal contraceptives.