Uncategorized
- Chemistry
Designer drugs hit dangerous lows to bring new highs
A surge in designer drugs, which emulate the highs of classic illicit substances with unpredictable effects, is keeping law enforcement busy.
- Paleontology
Oldest known avian relative of today’s birds found in China
Fossil find suggests modern birds’ oldest avian relative lived about 6 million years before previous record holder.
- Planetary Science
Explore an asteroid with ‘Vesta Trek’
Vesta Trek lets users explore the asteroid Vesta with data from the Dawn spacecraft.
- Genetics
‘Brainbow’ illuminates cellular connections
A mouse’s optic nerve fluoresces in a rainbow of colors. The image offers a detailed look at nerve-protector cells called oligodendrocytes.
- Chemistry
Sugar-cleaving molecule raises hope for universal blood
An engineered enzyme can quickly slice and dice some A and B markers from blood cells, bringing researchers closer to creating universal blood.
- Genetics
Gene therapy for blindness dims a bit
Gene therapy improves vision temporarily but can’t save sight.
- Math
Research can’t be right with ‘Statistics Done Wrong’
Fraud in science gets a lot of attention and condemnation — as it should. But fraud isn't that interesting compared to all the errors that scientists commit unintentionally.
- Tech
‘Ex Machina’ explores humanity as much as AI
Sci-fi thriller delves into hubris and power relationships.
- Neuroscience
Zipping to Mars could badly zap brain nerve cells
Charged particles like the ones astronauts might encounter wallop the brain, mouse study suggests.
- Physics
Tiny particles propel themselves upstream
Light-activated, human-made particles can align themselves with the flow of a fluid and swim upstream.
- Plants
How slow plants make ridiculous seeds
Coco de mer palms scrimp, save and take not quite forever creating the world’s largest seeds.
- Physics
Explanation for G’s imprecision stumbles
A surprising new result seems to suggest that subtle changes in Earth’s rotation rate could account for physicists’ difficulty in measuring Newton’s gravitational constant. But some confusion with dates appears to derail the finding.
