Lila Guterman

All Stories by Lila Guterman

  1. Plants

    Early cyanobacteria fossils dug up in 1965

    In 1965, early photosynthetic plant fossils were discovered. The date of earliest oxygen-producing life forms has since been pushed much earlier.

  2. Health & Medicine

    First known case of sexually transmitted Ebola reported

    A Liberian woman contracted Ebola in March by having sex with a survivor of the viral disease, researchers report.

  3. Animals

    Help ornithologists develop bird photo ID tool

    Cornell ornithology lab’s computer identification of common North American avian species needs your photos.

  4. Science & Society

    Irreproducible life sciences research in U.S. costs $28 billion

    Problems with preclinical research often stem from study design and experiments’ materials.

  5. Plants

    Fifty years ago, ethylene research ripened

    In 1965, scientists realized ethylene was the molecule that ripens fruit.

  6. Animals

    Early research asked whether cats dream

    Early research asked whether cats dream; researchers still don’t know definitively.

  7. Science & Society

    John Nash, Louis Nirenberg share math’s Abel Prize

    John Nash and Louis Nirenberg will receive the 2015 ‘Nobel of mathematics’ for their work on partial differential equations.

  8. Planetary Science

    Potentially life-friendly nitrogen compounds found on Mars

    “Fixed” nitrogen has been found in Mars deposits, raising the possibility that ancient life could have used it to build biomolecules.

  9. Genetics

    Protein comparisons proposed in 1960s for tracking evolution

    In 1965, two scientists spotted molecular signatures of primate divergence. The tool became widespread for studying evolution – and one researcher’s career ended in crime.

  10. Animals

    Lemurs expected to lose much of their ranges this century

    As the climate warms, Madagascar’s little primates will lose habitat, threatening some with extinction.

  11. Computing

    Artificial intelligence conquers Space Invaders, Pong, Q*bert

    With a single algorithm, a computer can learn dozens of classic video games, researchers from Google DeepMind in London report.

  12. Health & Medicine

    Community protection against measles jeopardized

    ‘Herd immunity’ to measles may be threatened by low vaccination rates in some parts of the United States.