Uncategorized
- Animals
Frog-hunting bats have ‘cocktail party effect’ workaround
Test with robotic frogs finds bats that hunt amphibians switch their attention to other clues if outside noise masks the mating chorus.
- Life
Rattlesnakes have reduced their repertoire of venoms
The most recent common ancestor of today’s rattlesnakes had a huge set of toxin-producing genes. Modern rattlesnake species have independently ditched some of these genes.
- Archaeology
Oldest indigo-dyed fabric found
South American society was first known to use complex dye process on fabrics.
- Life
Color vision strategy defies textbook picture
Cone cells in the retina see in black and white and color.
- Planetary Science
Source of Charon’s red north pole is probably Pluto
The dark red pole on Charon, the largest moon of Pluto, is probably gas that escaped from Pluto and was then transformed by sunlight.
- Astronomy
Gaia mission’s Milky Way map pinpoints locations of billion-plus stars
New map of the galaxy provides unprecedented positions of over 1 billion stars and promises of a detailed 3-D atlas to come.
- Animals
Sandboxes keep chicken parasites at bay
Fluffing feathers in sand and dust prevents severe mite infections in cage-free hens.
- Science & Society
See where Clinton and Trump stand on science
Science News looks at where presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump stand on seven key science issues, from genetic engineering to space exploration.
- Planetary Science
Moon rocks may have misled asteroid bombardment dating
Discrepancies in moon rock dating muddy Late Heavy Bombardment debate.
- Paleontology
Pterosaurs weren’t all super-sized in the Late Cretaceous
A 77-million-year-old flying reptile may be the smallest pterosaur of the Late Cretaceous.
- Planetary Science
Rock star Freddie Mercury now has his own space rock
Queen front man Freddie Mercury is the latest in a long list of celebrities to have an asteroid named after him.
- Animals
Tiny structures give a peacock spider its radiant rump
Peacock spiders use pigments and complex nanostructures to achieve bright dance costumes.
