News
- Life
Coral keeps it in the family
The nutrients released during mass coral spawning feed the whole ecosystem.
By Tia Ghose -
Trouble with truffles
A Chinese truffle species has invaded Italy, raising fears that the newcomer could overgrow the Italian black truffle on its home territory.
By Susan Milius -
- 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.