News
- Life
Early life forms may have been terrestrial
A controversial theory suggests that at least some of the earliest widespread complex life forms lived on land.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Zinc may help treat box jellyfish stings
A zinc compound seems to counteract the deadly venom delivered by the sting of the Australian box jellyfish.
By Nathan Seppa - Astronomy
Clutch of distant galaxies reveals the infant universe
The Hubble telescope spies stars lighting up the cosmic dawn.
- Humans
What goes wrong when talks break down
A nonlinear analysis explains how negotiations often turn on seemingly insignificant details.
- Life
News in brief: Fins to limbs with flip of genetic switch
Boost of gene activity may help explain how arms and legs evolved in vertebrates.
- Humans
Pots bear oldest signs of cheese making
Some of Europe’s first farmers created perforated vessels to separate curds from whey.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Brain stimulation alters depressive symptoms in mice
The findings may point the way toward more targeted treatments for depression in people.
- Life
Feces study gets the poop on gorillas’ diet
Chemical traces in animals’ droppings reflect shifts in recent food consumption.
By Tanya Lewis - Humans
Lines in the sand may have been made for walking
The ancient Nazca culture’s celebrated desert drawings include a labyrinth meant to be strolled, not seen.
By Bruce Bower - Planetary Science
Violent past revealed by map of moon’s interior
A gravity survey by twin orbiters reveals how much the lunar surface was pummeled by meteorite impacts early in its history.
- Health & Medicine
Drug breaks up Alzheimer’s-like deposits in mice
Recent failed trials of a similar approach in humans fuel skepticism that patients will benefit.
- Space
LHC sees odd behavior in superhot particle soup
Coordinated motion in debris from lead-proton collisions may yield clues about quark-gluon plasma.
By Andrew Grant