Uncategorized
- Animals
Abandoned frog eggs can hatch early
If their father doesn’t keep them hydrated, frog embryos react by hatching early.
By Susan Milius - Chemistry
Color-changing polymer maps fingerprints
Tiny beads of sweat may offer new way to identify people’s fingerprints.
By Meghan Rosen - Psychology
Babies learn some early words by touch
Tactile cues provided by caregivers give infants a leg up on learning words for body parts.
By Bruce Bower - Paleontology
‘Hidden dragon’ fossil is oldest flying reptile
Researchers have unearthed the oldest pterodactyl ever discovered: Kptodrakon progenitor soared over the Earth 163 million years ago.
By Meghan Rosen - Climate
Glacial microbes gobble methane
While some bacteria produce methane in Greenland’s melting ice sheet, others may consume the greenhouse gas as it escapes.
By Beth Mole - Animals
Frustrated fish get feisty
Smaller rainbow trout become more aggressive towards bigger fish when they don’t their usual treats.
By Susan Milius - Psychology
Word-streaming tech may spell trouble for readers
Technologies like Spritz that display one word at a time on a screen reduce reading comprehension, a new study concludes.
By Bruce Bower - Genetics
Farmers assimilated foragers as they spread agriculture
While some European hunter-gatherers remained separate, others mated with the early farmers that introduced agriculture to the continent.
- Health & Medicine
Enzyme may help aspirin protect against colon cancer
Aspirin may not reduce colon cancer risk in people with low levels of a protective enzyme called 15-PGDH.
By Nathan Seppa - Quantum Physics
Major step taken toward error-free computing
Physicists have achieved nearly perfect control over a bit of quantum information, bringing them a step closer to error-free computation.
- Animals
Submariners’ ‘bio-duck’ is probably a whale
First acoustic tags on Antarctic minke whales suggest the marine mammals are the long-sought source of the mysterious bio-duck sound.
By Susan Milius - Neuroscience
Pain curbs sex drive in females, but not males
When in pain, female mice’s interest in sex takes a hit but males still want to mate.