Notebook

Plants

Fairly bad pitcher traps triumph in the end

Carnivorous pitcher plant traps rarely catch much, but their lackadaisical hunting turns out not to be so lame after all.

Astronomy

Giant rings encircle young exoplanet

Stretching 90 million kilometers from their center, 37 stripes of dust around exoplanet were probably crafted by moons.

Neuroscience

Decoding sommeliers’ brains, one squirt of wine at a time

Researchers use a ‘gustometer’ to control wine portions in experiments comparing the brains of sommeliers and novices.

Planetary Science

Decades-old idea brought to fruition: a mission to Mercury

In 1965, engineers proposed sending a spacecraft to Mercury with help from another planet’s gravity – a technique now used in many interplanetary missions.

Animals

That’s how shrimpfish roll

A tails-up swimmer makes rare moves.

Psychology

Emotions go unnamed for some with eating disorders

A portion of women with eating disorders have a separate problem recognizing their own emotions, a condition called alexithymia.

Tech

Using Facebook ‘likes,’ computer pegs people’s personalities

Using limited data from Facebook, computers can outdo humans in assessing a user’s openness, neuroticism and other personality traits.

Animals

Earth’s magnetic field guides sea turtles home

Over 19 years, geomagnetic fields changed slightly and so did loggerheads’ nesting sites.

Humans

Babbling to babies is OK, despite previous warnings against it

Fifty years ago, a researcher advised banning baby talk, but results since then say otherwise.

Animals

‘Bag of chips effect’ helps bats find a meal

Bats get a clue to where dinner is by listening to peers attacking prey.

Animals

Why ground squirrels go ninja over nothing

Ground squirrels twist and dodge fast enough to have a decent chance of escaping rattlesnake attacks.

Neuroscience

Cold War collaboration probed possible viral cause of ALS

A mid-1960s collaboration between American and Soviet researchers explored a possible viral cause of ALS.