Feature
- Health & Medicine
The Long Road to Beta Cells
In their quest to cure type 1 diabetes, scientists are finding that turning stem cells into insulin-producing beta cells is a lot harder than it first appeared.
By Brian Vastag - Ecosystems
Prairie Revival
Prairie restoration is attracting interest, but because so little long-term monitoring and comparative studies have been done, researchers are still wondering whether it's really possible to re-create a prairie.
By Leslie Allen - Agriculture
Lettuce Liability
A new industry program to self-regulate most salad producers is forcing affected farmers to choose between adopting measures unfriendly to wildlife and a loss of major markets for their greens.
By Janet Raloff - Archaeology
Muons Meet the Maya
Physicists are exploring the use of muons generated by cosmic rays to explore Mayan archaeological sites and to probe the interiors of volcanoes and shipping containers.
By Betsy Mason - Archaeology
Rolling Back the Years
Scientists are refining carbon dating techniques to make the archaeological timeline more precise.
- Earth
Hey, What about Us?
The plight of polar bears may get most of the attention as climate change disrupts the Arctic ice, but plenty of other species, from walrus and seals to one-celled specks, are also going to see their world change radically.
By Susan Milius - Tech
Bad Vibrations
Despite computer models and wind tunnel tests, bridges show surprising vibrations and movements that engineers are still learning to cope with.
By Mason Inman -
Showdown at Sex Gap
Faced with two contrasting reports on the science of sex differences in mathematics and science aptitude, researchers at a meeting held in October tried to figure out what's really known about this controversy and how the findings apply to education and test taking.
By Bruce Bower - Physics
Shadow World
Physicists have found new evidence for a 10-year-old conjecture that bridges the gap between the many-dimensional space of string theory and more familiar theorizing.
- Paleontology
Back from the Dead?
The long-term disappearance of creatures from the fossil record and their later reemergence can provide insights into ancient environmental conditions and the trustworthiness of the fossil record itself.
By Sid Perkins - Ecosystems
Tortoise Genes and Island Beings
Geneticists and conservation biologists are joining forces to untangle the evolutionary history of giant Galápagos tortoises and to safeguard the animals' future.
By Bryn Nelson - Health & Medicine
Mother Knows All
Fragments of a fetus' genetic material that leak into a pregnant woman's bloodstream reveal details of early fetal development.