All Stories by Bethany Brookshire
- Animals
Freshwater leeches’ taste for snails could help control snail-borne diseases
A freshwater leech species will eat snails, raising the possibility that leeches could be used to control snail-borne diseases that infect humans and livestock.
- Health & Medicine
A new battery starves cancer cells of oxygen in mice
When a self-charging battery is placed on a mouse’s tumor and combined with anticancer drugs, it reduced tumor size by 90 percent.
- Neuroscience
In mice, anxiety isn’t all in the head. It can start in the heart
Scientists used optogenetics to raise the heartbeat of a mouse, making it anxious. The finding could offer a new angle for studying anxiety disorders.
- Animals
A natural gene drive could steer invasive rodents on islands to extinction
A few genetic tweaks to a readily passed-on chunk of DNA could sterilize a mouse population, eliminating them in as little as 25 years.
- Animals
Deer-vehicle collisions spike when daylight saving time ends
In the week after much of the United States turns the clock back, scientists found a 16 percent increase in crashes between vehicles and deer.
- Animals
Mountain lions pushed out by wildfires take more risks
A study tracking mountain lions showed that after an intense burn, the big cats crossed roads more often, raising the risk of becoming roadkill.
- Climate
Gas flares are leaking five times as much methane than previously thought
The flares burn off methane at 91 percent efficiency. Achieving 98 percent efficiency would be like taking nearly 3 million cars off the road.
- Animals
Mary Roach’s new book ‘Fuzz’ explores the ‘criminal’ lives of animals
In “Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law,” author Mary Roach profiles mugging monkeys, thieving bears and other animal outlaws.
- Humans
‘The Joy of Sweat’ will help you make peace with perspiration
Dripping with science and history, a new book by science journalist Sarah Everts seeks to take the stigma off sweat.
- Science & Society
50 years ago, the United States wanted to deflate the helium stockpile
An attempt to dismantle the Federal Helium Reserve in 1971 failed. Fifty years later, the U.S. government is still determined to run out of gas.
- Animals
Dim lighting may raise the risk of a West Nile virus exposure
Dimly lit nights increased risk of West Nile virus exposure in chickens. Artificial light proved a better predictor of risk than population or paving.
- Archaeology
A tour of ‘Four Lost Cities’ reveals modern ties to ancient people
In the book 'Four Lost Cities,' author Annalee Newitz uses cities of the past to show what might happen to cities in the future.
