News
- Life
One small step for a snail, one giant leap for snailkind
Experiments suggest that gastropods shed their shells in one fell swoop during the evolutionary transition that created slugs.
- Space
Life may have started sky high
Simulations of the atmosphere on Saturn’s moon Titan suggest that basic chemical ingredients could have formed far above early Earth.
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- Earth
Oceanographers with flippers
Tracking seal dives off Antarctica reveals seafloor troughs that affect ocean circulation.
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Siblings of autistic children may share some symptoms
Studies may need to account for a predisposition to autistic traits in undiagnosed members of families where the disorder occurs.
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- Space
It’s only a seltzer moon
Plumes spewing from the south pole of Saturn’s Enceladus may have carbonated source, a new analysis suggests.
- Animals
A little climate change goes a long way in the tropics
In hot places, even minor warming could rev up metabolism in animals that don’t generate their own heat, a new analysis suggests.
- Chemistry
Basic tool for making organic molecules wins chemistry Nobel
Three researchers get prize for developing methods that use the metal palladium to catalyze the synthesis of complex carbon carbon-containing molecules for drugs, electronics and other applications.
- Health & Medicine
Getting to the bottom of diabetes and kidney disease
Renal cells called podocytes may need insulin to maintain tissues’ blood-filtration role, a study in mice finds.
- Life
Massive count a drop in the bucket
As the decade-long Census of Marine Life totes up thousands of new species, it leaves much yet to discover in the world’s oceans.
- Physics
Physics Nobel goes to graphene
Discovered only six years ago, the 2-D carbon sheets have spun off a new field of research.
