News
- Health & Medicine
Prion mutation yields disease marked by diarrhea
Rare prion ailment starts in adulthood, attacking the gut before brain.
- Humans
Bigger numbers, not better brains, smarten human cultures
An experiment using a computer game supports the idea that big populations drove the evolution of complex human cultures.
- Oceans
Extremely salty water is at least 100 million years old
Supersaline sediments off East Coast shed light on Atlantic Ocean’s early history.
- Neuroscience
Bacteria may transfer mom’s stress to fetus
Expecting mice under psychological pressure passed different mix of microbes to their pups, affecting the babies’ brains.
- Animals
Sea slug mating features a stab in the head
Newly discovered hermaphroditic sea slug deploys specialized needle-thin organ for injections near the eyes.
- Microbes
Surprising metals found in microbes
Scientists discover the first case of an organism needing a rare earth element for survival.
- Climate
Historical events linked to changes in Earth’s temperature
Ozone treaty, wars and Great Depression influenced global warming rate, scientists find.
- Life
Immune system follows circadian clock
Mice with jet lag have boosted supply of cells linked to inflammation.
- Planetary Science
Meteor explosions like this year’s Russian fireball more common than thought
Chelyabinsk-sized rocks may come to Earth every 30 years, on average.
- Life
Newborns’ weak immunity may allow helpful bacteria to gain a foothold
Though infant immune systems raise risk of infection, they also allow good microbes into the body, study in mice shows.
- Neuroscience
Autism may be detectable in baby’s first months of life
Infants later diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder lose tendency to gaze at others’ eyes during first half-year, researchers find.
- Astronomy
Billions and billions of Earth-sized planets call Milky Way home
Using Kepler data, astronomers estimate that a sizeable fraction of the galaxy’s sunlike stars have Earth-sized planets that could support liquid water.
