News
- Paleontology
Humans may have taken different path into Americas than thought
An ice-free corridor through the North American Arctic may have been too barren to support the first human migrations into the New World.
- Anthropology
Notorious ‘ape-man’ fossil hoax pinned on one wrongdoer
New Piltdown Man study pegs infamous ‘ape-man’ skull forgery on one well-informed culprit.
By Bruce Bower - Neuroscience
Aging-related protein may play role in depression
Mouse study reveals link between aging protein and depression.
- Particle Physics
Bottom quarks misbehave in LHC experiment
Bottom quarks fly off at an angle more often than expected in new data from the LHC.
- Climate
India’s monsoon winds trace back nearly 13 million years
The intense monsoon winds that carry torrential rain to India each year first started blowing around 12.9 million years ago, new research suggests.
- Genetics
Ancient reptiles saw red before turning red
The discovery that birds and turtles share a gene tied to both color vision and red coloration is more evidence that dinosaurs probably saw the color red — and perhaps were even red, too.
- Neuroscience
‘Neural dust’ can listen to body’s electrical signals
Tiny crystals can detect electrical signals in nerves and muscles of rats.
- Physics
LIGO’s black holes may be dark matter
Two analyses indicate that LIGO could have detected black holes that formed just after the Big Bang.
- Science & Society
FDA OKs first GM mosquito trial in U.S. but hurdles remain
The FDA has concluded that test releases of Oxitec GM mosquitoes on a Florida key poses no significant problem for the environment, but local officials still have to agree
By Susan Milius - Paleontology
New fossil suggests echolocation evolved early in whales
A 27-million-year-old whale fossil sheds light on echolocation’s beginnings.
- Genetics
Rats offer clues to biology of alcoholism
Heavy-drinking rats are giving scientists new genetic clues to alcoholism.
- Earth
China’s mythical ‘Great Flood’ possibly rooted in real disaster
Folktales of an ancient flood that helped kick off Chinese civilization may reference a nearly 4,000-year-old deluge.
By Bruce Bower