All Stories
- Genetics
What your earwax says about your ancestry
Both armpit and ear wax secretions are smellier in Caucasians than in Asians, thanks to a tiny genetic change that differs across ethnic groups.
- Health & Medicine
Acetaminophen use in pregnancy linked to kids’ slightly higher risk of ADHD
A large analysis shows an association between acetaminophen use in pregnancy and slightly higher risks of ADHD, but it does not prove the pain reliever causes the disorder.
- Health & Medicine
Urine test detects not pregnancy but cancer
A paper strip uses nanoparticles to pick up evidence of tumors or blood clots in mice.
- Animals
A tiny ocean vortex, with pop art pizzazz
Coral polyps kick up a whirling vortex of water by whipping their hairlike cilia back and forth in the photography winner of the 2013 International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge.
- Neuroscience
Brain’s fact-checker located
A bit of brain tissue near the top of the head may be the body’s fact-checker. Called the supplementary motor cortex, this brain region monitors the body’s action and sends an alert when a mistake is made.
- Psychology
Beatles reaction puzzles even psychologists
From the February 29, 1964, issue: Psychologists are as puzzled as parents over the explosive effect the Beatles are having on American teen-agers.
- Earth
Age of Earth’s crust confirmed
Decaying atoms traced in zircon uphold dating of Earth's crust at about 4.374 billion years old.
- Animals
We’re only noticing the snowy owls
A lemming boom last summer probably led to rises in populations of several predator species.
- Particle Physics
Catching Particle Fever
Interspersed with the plot of Particle Fever are artful explanatory animations and commentary by six articulate physicists. Through these characters, we learn that the Higgs is a stepping stone toward a deeper understanding of the universe.
- Physics
Graphene film blocks wireless signals
A transparent film made of graphene layered with quartz absorbed 90 percent of radio waves.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum timekeeping
Recent advances in controlling the quantum behavior of particles have inspired physicists to dream of a global clock that would tell the same time everywhere. It would be hundreds of times as accurate as current atomic clocks.
- Tech
Creature power
Biological fuel cells that generate electricity by harnessing sugars and oxygen in the body may one day power implanted devices in humans and other animals.
