Notebook
- Health & Medicine
A look back at 2013’s disasters
The Philippines, India and China each lost more than 1,000 lives in 2013 in mass calamities.
- Microbes
Microbes floating among clouds may munch on sugar
Floating in a cloud and noshing sweets while wrapped in a cozy bubble sounds like a pleasant dream. For some lucky bacteria, it may be a reality.
- Archaeology
Magnetism paved way for excavation without digging
In the 1960s, archaeologists used a new technique to locate and map a submerged Greek city without digging.
- Earth
Earth’s most abundant mineral finally has a name
Bridgmanite, the planet’s most common mineral, christened after traces found in 1879 meteorite.
- Tech
Blu-ray Discs get repurposed to improve solar cells
Polymer solar cells capture more sunlight when they are imprinted with movies’ and TV shows’ Blu-ray Disc etchings.
- Animals
Fully formed froglets emerge from dry bamboo nurseries
In remote India, a rare frog mates and lays eggs inside bamboo stalks. The eggs hatch into froglets, forgoing the tadpole stage.
- Planetary Science
Setting sights on Mars — a half-century ago
Fifty years ago, the United States turned its eyes toward Mars and set a goal of sending humans as soon as possible.
- Animals
When sweet little bees go to war
Tiny Tetragonula bees don’t sting but have strong jaws. The bees fight by biting a combatant and not letting go.
- Health & Medicine
Foul smells during sleep may help smokers quit
A night of smelling rotten eggs and fish while inhaling cigarette odors makes smokers reach for fewer cigarettes upon waking.
- Earth
More multi-tornado days in the forecast for U.S.
The number of days per year with tornadoes has gone down over the last few decades in the U.S., but the number of days that see 30 or more twisters is going up.
- Chemistry
Chemist tackles complex problems with simplicity
Harvard chemist George Whitesides applies his unique problem-solving philosophy to creating new diagnostic devices for the developing world.
- Tech
Sheath helps ‘aqua-hamster’ survive underwater
Scientists hoped a membrane invented in 1964 would let submarines pull air from seawater.
