News
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Trilobites might have invented farming
A close look at fossils raises the possibility that a type of trilobite farmed bacteria.
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Weevils pick on someone their own size
A horned weevil can't pick a real fight with a male too big for him because the bigger one can't get a good grip.
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Why is that wasp helping?
Researchers have found nests of a social insect with helpers that are neither close kin nor slaves.
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Energy-efficient brains
Successful problem solving depends on a brain that efficiently lessens its workload rather than laboring harder.
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Checking up on abuse memories
An unusual trove of evidence in a criminal case supports the accuracy of recall of childhood sexual abuse.
- Astronomy
Gamma-ray craft plunges into Pacific
As planned, NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, which had detected some of the highest-energy radiation in the universe for 9 years, crashed into the Pacific Ocean on June 4.
- Astronomy
Stars’ wobbles reveal six more planets
Swiss astronomers have found indirect evidence of six additional planets that lie outside the solar system, bringing the tally to more than 40.
- Animals
Sibling Desperado: Doomed booby chick turns relentlessly violent
The first known case among nonhuman vertebrates of so-called desperado aggression—relentless attacks against an overwhelming force—may come from the underling chick in nests of brown boobies.
- Health & Medicine
Huntington’s Advance: Drug limits disease effects in laboratory mice
A compound that inhibits enzymes that act as stop signs for genes counteracts the movement disorders brought on by Huntington's disease, a mouse study suggests.
- Tech
Light Splash: Transparent pipes shape microstructures
A new technique using fluid dyes in microplumbing to create miniature fluid-carrying chips improves the 3-D topography of these microstructures and makes that topography relatively easy to modify.
- Materials Science
Natural Healing: Nanothread mesh could lead to novel bandages
A new material made from clot-promoting protein fibers may serve as a wound covering that speeds healing and never needs removing.
- Health & Medicine
Montezuma’s Welcome Revenge? Bacterial toxin may fend off colon cancer
A diarrhea-inducing toxin from some strains of the common gut bacterium E. coli stifles colon cancer cell growth and may lead to new treatments.
