Uncategorized
- Anthropology
Skulls from ancient London suggest ritual decapitations
The city’s Roman rulers had special watery places to keep the heads of military enemies or vanquished gladiators.
- Animals
Swimming dolphins don’t need to cheat
Dolphins swimming through bubbles burst old notion of underpowered muscles.
- Life
V-flying birds pick efficient flapping pattern
Ibises time their flaps to catch a boost from a neighbor’s wing.
- Ecosystems
Trees’ growth keeps climbing with age
Older trees pack on weight faster, making them potentially the best carbon collectors.
- Tech
Jellyfish-like flying machine takes off
Mimicking sea creatures instead of insects leads to better hovering, scientists find.
- Astronomy
Kepler’s surprise: Planet hunter also found supernovas
NASA's now-defunct Kepler space telescope captured five stellar explosions as they happened.
- Agriculture
Some bioenergy crops are greener than others
In the Upper Midwest, switchgrass trumps maize at boosting ecological health.
- Science & Society
Tracking fireballs for science
Watching a meteor race across the night sky is a romantic experience. And now it can be a scientific one as well.
- Health & Medicine
‘Good bacterium’ prevents colic symptoms in newborns
Crying time was nearly halved in babies receiving the beneficial microbe.
- Health & Medicine
Green tea may sabotage blood pressure medication
Antioxidants in drink may keep intestinal cells from taking up drug.
- Astronomy
Galaxies’ missing mass may hide in gas clouds
Vast reservoirs of previously undetected gas could account for much of galaxies’ matter, solving a cosmic mystery.
- Cosmology
From Dust to Life
In about 300 pages, this book sums up the history of all that matters — or at least everything made of matter — from the Big Bang to life on Earth.
