News
- Chemistry
Altering ant uniforms
The chemical coat that an invasive ant species relies upon to recognize its kin may someday serve to turn family into foe.
- Materials Science
Rice-straw sweaters
Textile scientists have for the first time extracted from rice straw natural cellulose fibers that can be spun into yarn.
- Animals
Mother deer can’t ID their fawns by call
Fawns can distinguish their mom's voice from another deer's, but a mom can't pick out her fawn's call.
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Insecticide gets help from gut bacteria
The world's most widely used organic insecticide appears to rely on an insect's normal gut flora to do its dirty work.
- Tech
Muscling up colors for electronic displays
Researchers have found a way to provide the complete color palette for television and computer screens.
- Tech
Long-Sought Laser? Standard microchips may gain speedy optical connections
Although not made exclusively of silicon, a new type of laser runs on electricity and could be mass manufactured in the same factories as silicon microchips are.
- Paleontology
Flying with Their Legs: Hind feathers made primitive bird nimble
The earliest-known bird had feathers on its legs that may have provided lift for flight, improving its maneuverability.
- Animals
Crickets on Mute: Hush falls as killer fly stalks singers
Within just 5 years, singing has nearly died out among a population of cricket on a Hawaiian island.
- Health & Medicine
UV Blocker: Lotion yields protective tan in fair-skinned mice
A lotion that stimulates production of the skin pigment melanin induces a deep tan in specially bred laboratory mice.
- Astronomy
Enigmatic Eruptions: Gamma-ray bursts lack supernova fireworks
The most powerful bursts in the universe may have gotten more mysterious.
- Health & Medicine
Graveyard Shift: Prostate cancer linked to rotating work schedule
Men who alternate between daytime and nighttime shifts on their jobs have triple the normal rate of prostate cancer, according to a Japanese nationwide study.
- Anthropology
Evolution’s Child: Fossil puts youthful twist on Lucy’s kind
Researchers have announced the discovery of the oldest and most complete fossil child in our evolutionary family yet found.
