Uncategorized
- Planetary Science
Massive dust storms are robbing Mars of its water
Mars was once lush with water. A new analysis of Martian climate data shows a mechanism that might have helped dehydrate the planet.
- Anthropology
‘First Face of America’ explores how humans reached the New World
New documentary shows how an ancient teen and an infant have illuminated scientists’ understanding of the peopling of the Americas.
- Health & Medicine
New twist on a flu vaccine revs up the body’s army of virus killers
A new approach to flu vaccine development makes influenza virus extra sensitive to a powerful antiviral system.
- Neuroscience
Cilia in the brain may be busier than previously thought
A hairlike appendage sticking out of brain cells may be much more important in the brain than scientists realized.
- Life
Light pollution can prolong the risk of sparrows passing along West Nile virus
Nighttime lighting prolongs time that birds can pass along virus to mosquitoes that bite people.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, IUDs were deemed safe and effective
50 year ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared intrauterine devices safe and effective, though officials didn’t know how the IUDs worked.
- Microbes
The secret to icky, sticky bacterial biofilms lies in the microbes’ cellulose
Bacteria use a modified form of cellulose to form sticky networks that can coat various surfaces.
- Earth
Volume of fracking fluid pumped underground tied to Canada quakes
Study links volume of fracking fluid injected underground with hundreds of quakes in central Canada, and not the rate at which the fluids were injected.
- Anthropology
Hunter-gatherer lifestyle could help explain superior ability to ID smells
Hunter-gatherers in the forests of the Malay Peninsula prove more adept at naming smells than their rice-farming neighbors, possibly because of their foraging culture.
- Materials Science
Ultrathin 2-D metals get their own periodic table
A new atlas of atom-thick metals could help researchers figure out how these 2-D materials might be used.
- Animals
The mystery of vanishing honeybees is still not definitively solved
The case has never been fully closed for colony collapse disorder, and now bees face bigger problems.
- Health & Medicine
Evidence grows that normal childbirth takes longer than we thought
Another study finds that labor lasts longer than is traditionally taught — an insight that could mean fewer unnecessary cesarean deliveries.
