News
- Paleontology
Big Gulp? Neck ribs may have given aquatic beast unique feeding style
The fossilized neck bones of a 230-million-year-old sea creature have features suggesting that the animal's snakelike throat could flare open and create suction to pull in prey.
By Sid Perkins - Tech
Bartending lessons for microassembly
Engineers have demonstrated the feasibility of quickly assembling identical microcircuit components by agitating subunits in a liquid.
By Peter Weiss -
Marrow cells take up residence in wounds
Bone marrow–derived cells linger in skin wounds much longer than previously thought, aiding in healing.
- Physics
Orbiting relativity test gets slow start
Unexpected but necessary adjustments to a satelliteborne test of relativity theory have slashed the time available to collect data.
By Peter Weiss - Tech
Transmuting a powerful poison
A new chemical process for fuel cells powered by hydrocarbons eliminates carbon monoxide that would clog fuel-cell electrodes while also extracting energy from the troublesome gas.
By Peter Weiss - Chemistry
Bacteria send out molecular scrounger for copper
Scientists have discovered the organic molecule that bacteria use to take up copper, which the microbes then use to chemically crack methane.
- Humans
Rembrandt’s eye saw no depth
The 17th-century Dutch artist Rembrandt lacked stereoscopic vision, an optical analysis of his self-portraits suggests.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Hepatitis B vaccine linked to MS
People who develop multiple sclerosis are more likely than others to have received a hepatitis B vaccination in recent years.
By Nathan Seppa - Materials Science
Heat-controlled implant delivers insulin on demand
The field of drug delivery is literally heating up, with the development of a new polymer implant that releases insulin in response to changes in temperature.
- Health & Medicine
Motor Ways: Gene mutation impairs muscle coordination
Scientists have identified a gene mutation that appears to cause the motor impairment that occurs in a rare disorder called Joubert syndrome.
- Animals
Pirates of the Amphibian: Males fertilize eggs of another guy’s gal
For the first time among amphibians, scientists have found frogs that sneak their sperm onto egg clutches left by another mating pair.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Tapping an Unlikely Source: Scientists use mouth membrane to construct corneal-surface transplants
Using membranes taken from the inside of the mouth, researchers have fashioned transplants that act as replacement outer layers for corneas in people with damaged vision.
By Nathan Seppa