News
- Materials Science
Snappy Transition: Venus flytrap inspires new materials
Inspired by the quick-shut action of the Venus flytrap, researchers have designed a patterned surface with microscale hills that can rapidly flip to form valleys.
- Plants
It Takes a Village: Tweaking neighbors reroutes evolution
The other residents of a plant's neighborhood can make a big difference in whether evolutionary forces favor or punish a plant's trait.
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Hold the Embryos: Genes turn skin into stem cells
Scientists have found a way to convert a person's skin cells directly into stem cells without creating and destroying embryos.
- Paleontology
A toothy smile
Nigersaurus boasted more than 500 teeth, arranged in rows across its mouth.
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Tadpole Slayer: Mystery epidemic imperils frogs
An emerging protozoal disease has begun to trigger mass die-offs of frog tadpoles throughout much of the United States.
- Health & Medicine
9/11 reflux
Up to 20 percent of 9/11 workers in New York City experience symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease, also called acid reflux.
- Tech
Crystal clear
Growing nanowires directly on a crystal might lead to high-density memory chips and transparent LEDs
- Math
Net advantage
When damaged, networks that seem resilient can still become inefficient to the point of being unusable.
- Astronomy
One star, five planets
With the discovery of a fifth planet circling the nearby star 55 Cancri, astronomers have found the most abundant—and heaviest—planetary system beyond the sun's.
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Eastern farms have native-bee insurance
If honeybees somehow vanished, the pockets of wild land in the Delaware Valley still harbor enough native bees to fill in and do the tough job of pollinating watermelon farms.
- Tech
A smaller magnetometer
A novel sensor the size of a rice grain can detect magnetic fields as small as those produced by brain or heart waves.
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Flawed Stem Cells Yield Fragile X Clues: Researchers study genetic disorder via discarded embryos
The most common inherited cause of mental retardation arises when a mutated gene is shut down early in embryonic development.
