News
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Mapping Aroma: Smells light up distinct brain parts
The sense of smell may have its own brain atlas.
- Planetary Science
Roaming Giants: Did migrating planets shape the solar system?
New simulations suggest that the solar system's four biggest planets were once bunched together, setting up a planetary bowling game that rapidly and violently rearranged the structure of the outer solar system and tossed chunks of debris inward.
- Earth
Last Gasp: Toxic gas could explain great extinction
Sudden venting of hydrogen sulfide from the deep sea could have caused the largest extinction in Earth's history by poisoning land animals and destroying atmospheric ozone that protects Earth from ultraviolet light.
- Anthropology
Founding Families: New World was settled by small tribe
A new genetic analysis indicates that only about 200 to 300 people crossed the ice age land bridge from Asia to become the founding population of North America.
- Ecosystems
Pesticide makes bees bumble
The pesticide spinosad, previously thought safe for bees, may damage their ability to forage for nectar.
- Tech
Morphing wheels for beginner bikers
A new bike design for kids morphs from tricycle into bicycle as the rider gets moving, possibly easing the often-fearful starts at riding two-wheelers.
- Tech
Nuke batteries get more practical
Nuclear batteries that will last for decades may have moved closer to reality with the demonstration of a silicon chip riddled with radioactive, tritium-filled pits where radiation is efficiently converted to electricity.
- Health & Medicine
Shot in the gut
A mystifying case of lead poisoning, which may have lasted more than a decade, turned out to have been caused by a swallowed shotgun pellet.
- Tech
Carbon nanotubes drive X-ray scanner
X-ray scanners based on carbon nanotubes could make airport luggage screening and high-tech medical imaging more efficient.
- Health & Medicine
Enzyme stopper combats cancers
An experimental drug combination that inhibits an enzyme that's abundant in tumor cells shows promise against several cancers.
- Planetary Science
Ringing in a new moon
The Cassini spacecraft has spotted a new moon of Saturn, only the second known to lie within the planet's main rings.
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Why making fat is good for you
Making new fat from food intake, as opposed to using stored fat, regulates genes important for blood sugar, fatty acid, and cholesterol concentrations.
