Uncategorized
- Animals
For a female mosquito, the wrong guy can mean no babies
Male Asian tiger mosquitoes leave female yellow fever mosquitoes uninterested in mating with their own species, a process known as “satyrization.”
- Science & Society
Short memory can be good strategy
Game theory reveals that there’s a limit to the effectiveness of relying on prior results to predict competitors’ behavior.
By Andrew Grant - Genetics
Evolution caught red-handed
Scientists have named a new gene on the fruit fly Y chromosome “flagrante delicto Y.”
- Materials Science
Electron waves refract negatively
Waves of electrons have been bent backward in a sheet of graphene, allowing physicists to focus electrons the way a lens focuses light.
By Andrew Grant - Health & Medicine
Clinical trial suggests new blood pressure standard
Preliminary results from a clinical trial suggest lower blood pressure targets could reduce rates of cardiovascular diseasae.
By Meghan Rosen - Animals
Loss of vision meant energy savings for cavefish
Novel measurement feeds idea that tight energy budgets favored vision loss in cavefish.
By Susan Milius - Genetics
Bad Karma can ruin palm oil crops
Missing epigenetic mark makes for Bad Karma and poor palm oil crops.
- Planetary Science
Asteroid impacts may explain Venus’ missing oxygen
Asteroid impacts on Venus might have helped sequester oxygen left behind when Earth’s sister planet lost its water, new simulations show.
- Health & Medicine
Less vitamin D and melatonin bad for multiple sclerosis
Vitamin D and melatonin play important roles in multiple sclerosis.
- Life
Humans adjust walking style for energy efficiency
Humans can adjust their steps to walk in a way that uses the least amount of energy.
By Meghan Rosen - Anthropology
Fossils suggest new species from human genus
Undated South African cave fossils may reveal a new species in the human genus.
By Bruce Bower - Animals
Invading Argentine ants carry virus that attacks bees
The first survey of viruses in the globally invasive Argentine ant brings both potentially bad and good news.
By Susan Milius