Uncategorized
- Plants
‘Lab Girl’ invites readers into hidden world of plants
In Lab Girl, geobiologist Hope Jahren reveals secret lives of plants — and scientists.
By Meghan Rosen - Astronomy
Possible perp found in mystery of Milky Way’s missing galaxy pals
Billions of years of supernovas could explain why galaxies like the Milky Way have so few tiny companions and why those companions have so little mass.
- Life
Cities create accidental experiments in plant, animal evolution
To look for evolution in human-scale time, pick a city and watch a lizard. Or some clover.
By Susan Milius - Animals
Reptile scales share evolutionary origin with hair, feathers
Hair, scales and feathers arose from same ancestral appendage.
- Planetary Science
Earth has a tiny tagalong, and no, it’s not a moon
Asteroid 2016 HO3 is a quasisatellite of Earth — orbiting the sun while never wandering far from our planet.
- Archaeology
Ancient Europeans may have been first wine makers
A new chemical analysis uncovers the earliest known wine making in Europe.
By Bruce Bower - Particle Physics
Hints of new particle rumored to fade, but data analysis continues
It’s still too early to know whether hints of a new particle are real, CERN scientists say.
- Psychology
Moral dilemma could put brakes on driverless cars
Driverless cars race into a moral conflict over saving passengers or pedestrians.
By Bruce Bower - Life
Scientists find clue to why mitochondrial DNA comes only from mom
Scientists have identified a protein that chops up the mitochondrial DNA in a dad’s sperm after it fertilizes an egg. The finding helps explain why mitochondrial DNA is usually passed on only by mothers.
- Psychology
New studies explore why ordinary people turn terrorist
New studies are examining the "will to fight" in ISIS soldiers and their opponents.
By Bruce Bower - Planetary Science
Ancient meteorite granules still mystify scientists
Shock waves might have formed the oldest solid fragments in the solar system, though interplanetary lightning isn’t entirely off the table.
- Life
New species of bacteria found to cause Lyme disease
Camping? Don’t forget the bug spray. Lyme disease covers new ground.
By Laura Beil