News
- Life
Scientists name large but elusive lizard
Though locals knew of it, the 2-meter cousin to Komodo dragons had escaped scientific description.
- Life
Gene variants linked to Crohn disease have little effect, study finds
A genetic variant linked to Crohn disease does not raise the average person’s risk of developing the condition, a new study finds.
- Chemistry
Superheavy element 117 makes debut
An international team of researchers fill a gap in the periodic table, and lay another stepping stone along the path to the “island of stability.”
- Health & Medicine
Languages use different parts of brain
Different areas are active depending how the grammar of a sentence conveys meaning.
- Climate
Alaskan peatlands expanded rapidly as ice age waned
The rapid growth of Alaskan wetlands before 8,600 years ago was due to hotter summers and colder winters, which could spell trouble in a warmer world, a new study suggests.
- Life
Insulin-producing cells can regenerate in diabetic mice
Animal study finds that the pancreas can spontaneously regenerate beta cells.
- Life
Researchers figure out how flies taste water
A study identifies the cell membrane protein that flies use to detect water’s flavor.
- Life
When two hyenas get the giggles
Laughs of higher-status individuals are more posh, a study in a captive colony suggests.
- Anthropology
Inca cemetery holds brutal glimpses of Spanish violence
Bones from a 500-year-old cemetery have yielded the first direct evidence of Inca death at Spaniards’ hands.
- Health & Medicine
Bees forage with their guts
Researchers show that a gene helps honeybees choose between nectar and pollen.
- Space
Cosmic magnetic field strength measured
Hints of weak magnetism between galaxies narrows options for how the early universe got its fields.
- Humans
For a rare few, driving and cell phones go well together
Some people do well at combining driving with cell phone use, raising questions about the nature of attention.
