Uncategorized
- Paleontology
‘Dinosaur 13’ details custody battle for largest T. rex
Documentary details nasty custody battle over the dinosaur nicknamed Sue, the largest T. rex skeleton ever found.
By Meghan Rosen - Astronomy
Plasma corkscrews form on sun during stellar eruption
Coronal mass ejection creates twisted loop in sun’s magnetic field.
-
- Genetics
A story about why people get fat may be just that
In this issue, reporters look at efforts to find the genes that could be responsible for the obesity crisis and how evolution acts on diseases such as Ebola and tuberculosis.
By Eva Emerson - Psychology
Simple rules can ease complex financial decisions
Straightforward strategies, known as heuristics, can be indispensable tools for keeping credit card debt in check as well as for making complex business decisions.
By Bruce Bower - Genetics
Ancient famine-fighting genes can’t explain obesity
Scientists question the long-standing notion that adaptation — specifically the evolution of genes that encourage humans to hold on to fat so they can survive times of famine — has driven the obesity crisis.
By Laura Beil - Microbes
Magnets diagnose malaria in minutes
A small magnet-based device provides faster, more-sensitive malaria diagnosis in mice.
By Nsikan Akpan - Oceans
Plastic may take unexpected routes to marine garbage patches
By redefining ocean boundaries, researchers offer new insight to how litter moves through the oceans and who’s to blame for the floating clumps of trash.
By Beth Mole - Tech
Space tourism’s price tag rockets upward
The “high price” of space tourism proposed in the 1960s is nowhere close to the astronomical price tag of trips today.
By Nsikan Akpan - Animals
Archerfish mouth is the secret of precision spit
Trained fish shoot down two hypotheses for their fine spit control but reveal fancy mouth work.
By Susan Milius - Earth
Death Valley’s sailing stones caught on the move
Mysterious sailing stones wandering around Death Valley are powered by ice and wind.
- Genetics
Source of coffee’s kick found in its genetic code
Coffee doubled up on caffeine-making genes. Those genes evolved independently from similar ones found in tea and chocolate plants.