All Stories by Bethany Brookshire
- Life
We all have a (very tiny) glow of light, no movie magic needed
Normal cellular processes in living things — from germinating plants to our own cells — create biophotons, though escaping light isn’t visible to us.
- Science & Society
Nobel Prizes honor great discoveries — but leave much of science unseen
The Nobel Prize might be the most famous science prize but it celebrates just a narrow slice of science and very few scientists.
- Health & Medicine
In a first, Huntington’s disease is slowed by an experimental treatment
An experimental gene therapy slowed Huntington’s by up to 75 percent in a small clinical trial. While not a cure, it may give patients longer lives.
- Animals
The phoenix isn’t the only critter to survive the flames
There are no real phoenixes hiding anywhere. But science has revealed that some living things can take quite a bit of heat.
- Humans
Forget discrete droplets. This is how sweat really forms
The most-detailed look yet at how we perspire reveals that beads of sweat are out, puddling is in.
- Animals
A dog’s taste for TV may depend on its temperament
Anxious dogs might react nervously to some television sounds, a survey of dog owners reports, while hyper ones might try to play chase.
- Animals
A newly discovered cell helps pythons poop out the bones of their prey
The cells helps the snakes absorb the bones of their prey — and might show up in other animals that chomp their meals whole.
- Climate
Climate change could separate vanilla plants and their pollinators
The vanilla species grown for its flavoring is finicky. Genes from its wild relatives could help make it hardier — but not if those cousins go extinct.
- Animals
Fewer scavengers could mean more zoonotic disease
Scavenger populations are decreasing, a new study shows. That could put human health at risk.
- Plants
A leaf’s geometry determines whether it falls far from its tree
Shape and symmetry help determine where a leaf lands — and if the tree it came from can recoup the leaf’s carbon as it decomposes.
- Materials Science
The best way to cook an egg — in 32 minutes
It’s hard to cook both the white and the yolk of the egg to the right temperature. Scientists have found a new method, called periodic cooking.
- Animals
Hotter cities? Here come the rats
Well, rats. A study of 16 cities shows that higher ambient temperatures and loss of green space are associated with increasing rodent complaints.
