News
- Astronomy
MESSENGER captures new images of Mercury during a third passage
MESSENGER flew past Mercury for a third time on September 29. The spacecraft's mission will continue, with MESSENGER due to settle into a yearlong orbit around Mercury in March 2011.
- Chemistry
Earth’s ‘boring billion’ years blamed on sulfur-loving microbes
A new study suggests these organisms could have kept oxygen levels low and waters toxic, stalling the evolution of complex life.
- Paleontology
Parasite may have felled a mighty T. rex
An infection known to afflict modern birds may have led to starvation in several dinosaurs.
- Paleontology
Fish death, mammal extinction and tiny dino footprints
Paleontologists in Bristol, England, at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology report on fish fossils in Wyoming, the loss of Australia’s megafauna and the smallest dinosaur tracks.
- Life
Better sensing through empty receptors
A new model suggests cells may be more sensitive to their environment than previously thought.
- Paleontology
Feather-covered dinosaur fossils found
Scientists have uncovered a feather-laden, peacock-sized dinosaur that predates the oldest known bird.
- Humans
Autism may include aptitude for analogy
Contrary to what had been thought, some kids with this disorder recognize and compare relationships among objects in visual scenes
- Chemistry
The element tin does what carbon will not
New bonding suggests scientists may need to rethink heavy metal chemistry.
- Ecosystems
Eels on the move
Study tracks European eels for the first 1,300 kilometers of their migration.
- Health & Medicine
Alzheimer’s linked to lack of Zzzzs
Sleep deprivation leads to more Alzheimer’s disease plaques in the brains of genetically susceptible mice.
- Humans
A head for numbers
The brain shows slightly different, but overlapping patterns when processing digits and dots of the same value.
- Astronomy
A damp moon: Water found inside and out
The moon isn’t bone-dry: Its surface and interior contain an abundance of water, new studies reveal.
