News
- Agriculture
Exploiting a genetic quirk in potatoes may cut fertilizer needs
A gene controlling potato growth limits the plant’s fertilizer uptake. Tweaking related genes could lead to more sustainable potato varieties.
- Animals
Putting vampire bats on treadmills reveals an unusual metabolism
A bat gym shows that vampires are more like some insects, burning amino acids from blood proteins rather than the carbs or fats other mammals rely on.
- Tech
Feather-inspired airplane flaps could boost flight performance
Rows of flaps inspired by bird wing feathers improve airfoil performance by boosting lift, reducing drag and mitigating stall.
- Anthropology
The ‘midlife crisis’ is too simple a story, scientists say
Some scientists want to shift focus to the teen mental health crisis. But the course of happiness is too complex for simplistic theories, experts warn.
- Humans
A phone app could help people have lucid dreams
New experiments show that an app developed by researchers can boost snoozing users’ likelihood of knowing when they are having a dream.
- Psychology
Smiles tweaked by AI can boost attraction, a speed-dating study shows
Using face filters to alter expressions manipulated feelings of attraction, raising questions about how such technology may influence social interactions.
- Space
A distant quasar’s black hole is oddly huge for its galaxy
The black hole’s mass is over half that of all the stars in the surrounding galaxy, a record for any galaxy hosting a quasar.
- Health & Medicine
Limiting sugar in infancy reduces the risk of diabetes and hypertension
Children who experienced sugar rationing during World War II were less likely to develop some chronic illnesses as adults than those with no rationing.
- Animals
A single enzyme can alter the vibrant colors in parrot plumage
Tweaking the chemical composition of a parrot-specific pigment can shift feathers from red to yellow or green.
- Life
Backyard explorers discovered 15 new examples of glowing life
New finds in the Finding Fluorescence site include a Japanese beetle with a glowing blue mouth and a mushroom that gleamed bright red under its cap.
- Animals
This marine biologist discovered a unique blue whale population in Sri Lanka
In addition to studying the world’s only nonmigratory blue whales, marine biologist Asha de Vos seeks to change her compatriots’ attitudes toward the ocean.
- Life
The oldest known fossil tadpole was a big baby
Fossils of the ancient frog Notobatrachus degiustoi push the known tadpole timeline back more than 30 million years.
