Notebook
- Health & Medicine
In 1965, hopes were high for artificial hearts
Developing artificial hearts took longer than expected, and improved devices are still under investigation.
- Oceans
Giant barrel sponges are hijacking Florida’s coral reefs
Giant barrel sponges are gradually taking over and threatening Florida’s coral reefs, a new census suggests.
- Animals
For a female mosquito, the wrong guy can mean no babies
Male Asian tiger mosquitoes leave female yellow fever mosquitoes uninterested in mating with their own species, a process known as “satyrization.”
- Genetics
Evolution caught red-handed
Scientists have named a new gene on the fruit fly Y chromosome “flagrante delicto Y.”
- Genetics
Bad Karma can ruin palm oil crops
Missing epigenetic mark makes for Bad Karma and poor palm oil crops.
- Animals
When octopuses dance beak to beak
The larger Pacific striped octopus does sex, motherhood and shrimp pranks like nobody else.
- Anthropology
Minutes after encountering danger, lemurs yawn
Madagascar primates yawn within minutes of encountering threats.
- Paleontology
Earliest sea scorpion discovered in Iowa
Earliest sea scorpion discovered in impact crater in Iowa.
- Planetary Science
The sad magnetic state of the solar system’s rocky worlds
While a strong magnetic shield protects Earth from the sun’s occasional outbursts, the solar system’s other rocky planets are mostly defenseless.
- Animals
A monkey uses a stick to pick its teeth and nose
A wild bearded capuchin monkey in Brazil was caught using tools to pick its nose and teeth.
- Astronomy
Two stars were once considered coldest known
Two stars once thought to be the coldest known are actually scorching compared with some truly frigid brown dwarfs.
- Earth
Millions of dollars’ worth of gold and silver found beneath volcanoes
A jackpot of dissolved gold and silver discovered in reservoirs of hot water beneath New Zealand’s Taupo Volcanic Zone.
