illustration of the ancestral horse Hyracotherium

In the Sept. 30 SN: Smog's health woes, secrets of the bat brain, slug slime inspires surgical glue, wild beer, Neandertal tar recipes, the sun's recent flare-ups and more.

September 30, 2017

COVER: plherrera/iStockphoto; RIGHT: TOMCATX/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Archives

Feature

Bat brain signals illuminate navigation in the dark

New lab technologies that let bats fly freely allow scientists to track nerve cell signals as the animals dodge and weave.

8 months ago

Animals,
Neuroscience
Science Visualized

Pollen hitches a ride on bees in all the right spots

Flower reproduction depends on the pollen that collects in hard-to-reach spots on bees, a new study shows.

8 months ago

Animals,
Plants
Feature

The list of diseases linked to air pollution is growing

Air pollution levels have come down since the 1970s, but smog is being linked with a growing list of diseases, including dementia, obesity, diabetes and even Parkinson’s.

8 months ago

Pollution,
Climate,
Health
Feature

How bats could help tomato farmers (and the U.S. Navy)

The way bats navigate their environs inspires engineers to develop better sonar and robots that can estimate crop yield or deliver packages

8 months ago

Animals
News

Animal goo inspires better glue

Researchers are turning to nature to create adhesives that work in the wet environment of the human body.

8 months ago

Animals,
Materials,
Biomedicine
News

The sun’s strongest flare in 11 years might help explain a solar paradox

The sun tends to release its biggest flares at the ends of solar cycles — and we might finally be able to test why.

8 months ago

Astronomy,
Particle Physics
News

Fiery re-creations show how Neandertals could have easily made tar

Neandertals could have made tar with simple methods and materials on hand, new experiments show.

8 months ago

Anthropology,
Archaeology
Rethink

3-D scans of fossils suggest new fish family tree

Analysis of specimens from China implies ray-finned fishes evolved later than previously thought.

8 months ago

Animals,
Evolution,
Paleontology
News

Brain chemical lost in Parkinson’s may contribute to its own demise

A dangerous form of the chemical messenger dopamine causes cellular mayhem in the very nerve cells that make it.

8 months ago

Brain,
Biomedicine
News

Woolly rhinos may have grown strange extra ribs before going extinct

Ribs attached to neck bones could have signaled trouble for woolly rhinos, a new study suggests.

8 months ago

Paleontology,
Evolution,
Physiology