All Stories
- Environment
Prestige oil spill linked to drop in seabird chicks
European shag in colonies affected by the 2002 Prestige oil tanker spill produced fewer chicks than birds in oil-free colonies.
- Astronomy
Exoplanet spin measured for first time
Astronomers measure the spin of a planet outside our solar system, and its days are short: just over eight hours.
- Science & Society
Students retain information better with pens than laptops
Compared with typing on a laptop, writing notes by hand may lead to deeper understanding of lecture material.
- Life
Dietary fiber may curb appetite by acting on brain
Fiber's ability to curb appetite may come from gut molecules traveling to and acting on the brain, not the gut alone.
- Animals
Abandoned frog eggs can hatch early
If their father doesn’t keep them hydrated, frog embryos react by hatching early.
- Neuroscience
How brains filter the signal from the noise
Our brains can distinguish a single voice in the middle of a noisy street. A new study in ferrets shows how auditory systems might separate the signal from the noise.
- Genetics
E. coli’s mutation rate linked to cells’ crosstalk
When E. coli cells are in smaller crowds, their genes mutate at an increased rate.
- Plants
South American vine is a masterful mimic
The vine Boquila trifoliolata changes the shape of its leaves to match its host and avoid getting eaten.
- Chemistry
Color-changing polymer maps fingerprints
Tiny beads of sweat may offer new way to identify people’s fingerprints.
- Life
1918 flu pandemic linked to human, bird virus gene swap
The 1918 pandemic flu, which killed up to 50 million people, may have come from a human virus and a bird virus swapping genetic material.
- Anthropology
Lake Huron holds 9,000-year-old hunting blinds
The human-made hunting blinds were arranged to drive caribou into a centralized "kill zone," suggesting cooperation among ancient hunters.
- Psychology
Babies learn some early words by touch
Tactile cues provided by caregivers give infants a leg up on learning words for body parts.
