Uncategorized
- Life
In a crisis, fruit flies do stunt turns
An elaborate monitoring system reveals that fruit flies can execute sophisticated flying maneuvers in the face of danger.
By Susan Milius - Neuroscience
Smell wiring gets set early
Mess with a baby mouse’s olfaction for too long and neurons never recover.
- Computing
App could cut jet lag short
A new app calculates lighting schedules to help travelers adjust quickly to new time zones.
By Meghan Rosen - Astronomy
Neutrinos from space rain down from all directions
Using Earth as a filter, scientists detect thousands of neutrinos from beyond the solar system.
By Andrew Grant - Paleontology
La Brea Tar Pits yield exquisite Ice Age bees
Ancient bee pupae snug in leafy nest give clues to Pleistocene climate.
By Susan Milius - Cosmology
Speed of early universe’s expansion determined
The rate known as the Hubble constant is measured with great precision for the universe of 11 billion years ago.
By Andrew Grant - Astronomy
Diamond ring shape formed by dead and living stars
Abell 33 is a planetary nebula, the remains of a star, beautifully aligned with another star.
- Animals
Coquí frogs got smaller, squeakier as climate warmed
As temperatures climbed in Puerto Rico, the calls of male coquí frogs became higher pitched.
By Susan Milius - Tech
Soft robots go swimming
A new robotic fish can wiggle and writhe like the real thing.
By Meghan Rosen - Life
Common lung infection suffocates with single protein
A Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV, protein creates clumps of dead, bloblike lung cells.
By Beth Mole - Animals
See-through shrimp flex invisible muscle
Much of the body of a Pederson’s transparent shrimp looks like watery nothing, but it’s a superhero sort of nothing.
By Susan Milius - Paleontology
Ancient crustacean had elaborate heart
The now-extinct Fuxianhuia protensa had a fancy cardiovascular system that sent blood to its limbs and organs, including its brain.