News

  1. Materials Science

    Graphene’s allure becomes magnetic

    Single-atom-thick sheets of carbon called graphene can be magnetized with the help of an insulating magnet.

    By Andrew Grant
  2. Animals

    Disco clams may flash chemical-weapons warning

    Puzzling disco clam light show might warn predators not to bite.

    By Susan Milius
  3. Climate

    Galápagos waters preview future for corals

    Posthumous analysis of Galápagos coral reefs reveals how climate change, carbon dioxide and pollution could kill off reefs worldwide by 2050.

    By Beth Mole
  4. Health & Medicine

    Allergy-related Google searches follow pollen season ups and downs

    Google search queries could help researchers track pollen seasons in areas without pollen-monitoring stations.

    By Thomas Sumner
  5. Computing

    New computer algorithm plays poker almost perfectly

    An algorithm optimized to play heads-up limit Texas Hold’em poker will never lose in the long run against any opponent.

    By Andrew Grant
  6. Health & Medicine

    New antibiotic candidate shows promise

    Tests in lab dishes and mice suggest an experimental compound called teixobactin can kill staph, TB microbes and other bacteria.

    By Nathan Seppa
  7. Health & Medicine

    Weight-loss surgery linked to better survival

    Obese middle-aged and older people fare better if they have had bariatric surgery, a long-term study of veterans finds.

    By Nathan Seppa
  8. Astronomy

    Kepler telescope discovers another 554 possible planets

    Extra year of Kepler telescope data adds 554 possible planets and eight confirmed ones that might be able to host life.

    By Christopher Crockett
  9. Climate

    Stalled global warming linked to North American drought

    Strong Pacific Ocean winds blamed for the global warming hiatus also boosted the odds of severe drought in the southwestern United States.

    By Thomas Sumner
  10. Life

    Insect-eating bats implicated as Ebola outbreak source

    Insect-eating bats, not fruit bats, may have started the Ebola epidemic.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  11. Health & Medicine

    Priming the elderly for flu shots

    A drug that shuts down a potent signaling molecule in cells might boost protection elicited with flu vaccination, a study finds.

    By Nathan Seppa
  12. Astronomy

    Europa’s geysers play hard-to-see

    Follow-up observations of Europa failed to confirm the existence of geysers venting the Jupiter moon’s hidden ocean into space.

    By Andrew Grant