All Stories by Laurel Hamers
- Animals
Manta rays have an unusual mouth filter that resists clogging
Manta rays filter feed differently than other ocean creatures.
- Chemistry
Joaquín Rodríguez-López designs batteries for a sustainable energy future
Electrochemist Joaquín Rodríguez-López is finding better ways to store wind and solar power.
- Life
DNA from seized elephant ivory unmasks 3 big trafficking cartels in Africa
Scientists can sleuth out wildlife crime and aid law enforcement by tracing elephant DNA from ivory seizures back to the source.
- Earth
A new map reveals the causes of forest loss worldwide
A new study shows where global forest loss is due to permanent deforestation versus short-term shifts in land use.
- Chemistry
A new antibiotic uses sneaky tactics to kill drug-resistant superbugs
Scientists have developed a molecule that kills off bacteria that are resistant to existing antibiotics.
- Climate
Wildfires make their own weather, and that matters for fire management
Mathematical equations describing interactions between wildfires and the air around them help explain their power and destruction.
- Life
How the poppy got its pain-relieving powers
Analyzing the poppy’s genome reveals the evolutionary history of morphine.
- Health & Medicine
CRISPR gene editing relieves muscular dystrophy symptoms in dogs
Scientists have used CRISPR’s molecular scissors in beagle puppies to repair a genetic mutation that causes muscular dystrophy.
- Animals
Naked mole-rats eat the poop of their queen for parenting cues
Hormones in the naked mole-rat queen’s poop turn subordinate nest-mates into surrogate parents.
- Health & Medicine
The first gene-silencing drug wins FDA approval
The FDA just approved the first drug that works via RNA interference.
- Neuroscience
This colorful web is the most complete look yet at a fruit fly’s brain cells
Scientists compiled 21 million images to craft the highest-resolution view yet of the fruit fly brain.
- Paleontology
This amber nugget from Myanmar holds the first known baby snake fossil
Amber preserves the delicate bone structure of a 99 million year old baby snake.
