News
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- Earth
Challenging ethanol’s dirty reputation
An inexpensive way to make ethanol from wood chips reduces net greenhouse gas emissions as much as more costly methods.
- Astronomy
A Phoenix on Mars
A new robotic lander will search the north polar region of Mars for habitability.
By Ron Cowen - Animals
Twee Twee Tweetle
Bird brains have a separate pathway for the babbling nonsense of baby talk.
By Susan Milius - Earth
In the aftermath
The charcoal left after a forest fire stimulates microbial activity that boosts carbon loss from organic material covering the ground.
By Sid Perkins - Earth
It’s the meat not the miles
Eating less red meat and dairy may do more to reduce food-associated greenhouse gas emissions than shopping locally.
- Animals
Sexy side of UV-B
The first evidence of ultraviolet-B courtship in animals comes from jumping spiders.
By Susan Milius - Life
Bring out your dead cells
A protein called Six-Microns-Under turns certain fruit fly brain cells into undertakers to clear away dead neighbors.
- Health & Medicine
Treat ’em
High blood pressure often goes untreated in people 80 and over, but a new study suggests that treatment extends survival.
By Nathan Seppa - Life
Leaf clippings as protein factories
Using plants to mass produce proteins for vaccines and other purposes may soon be possible without genetically engineering whole plants.
- Tech
Down with the transistor
A new type of electronic component could shrink computer chips and make them more powerful.
- Earth
Heat relief
A new data-rich climate model foresees a short-term reprieve from warming for parts of western Europe and North America.
By Sid Perkins