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Magazine
In the April 14 SN: Killer heat, mass insect migrations, the latest Saturn updates, rethinking the Nobel Prize, tectonics on Venus, the science of mass shootings, ancient tool trends and more.
Life & Evolution
Topic Image Rail
GREEN MEDICINE Derived from sweet wormwood plants, the antimalarial compound artemisinin usually composes 0.1 to 1 percent of the dry weight of the leaves. New research more than triples a plant’s yield of artemisinin, to 3.2 percent.
Ton Rulkens/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Life & Evolution
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Animals
News in BriefMale fruit flies enjoy ejaculation
Red light exposure made some genetically engineered fruit flies ejaculate, spurring a surge of a brain reward compound — and less desire for booze.NewsThese seals haven’t lost their land ancestors’ hunting ways
Clawed pawlike forelimbs help true seals hunt like their land-dwelling ancestors. -
Plants
News in BriefGenetically modified plant may boost supply of a powerful malaria drug
Using a DNA study and genetic engineering, researchers tripled the amount of an antimalarial compound naturally produced by sweet wormwood plants.News in BriefLiverwort reproductive organ inspires pipette design
A new pipette is inspired by a plant’s female reproductive structure. -
Microbes
Science TickerThis plastic-gobbling enzyme just got an upgrade
Scientists tweaked a bacterial enzyme and made it more efficient in breaking down plastics found in polyester and plastic bottles.News in BriefThis material uses energy from ambient light to kill hospital superbugs
A quantum dot–powered material could help reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections, including those with drug-resistant bacteria. -
Fungi
NewsA deadly fungus is infecting snake species seemingly at random
A fungal disease doesn’t appear to discriminate among snake species, suggesting many of the reptiles may be at risk.Science TickerHow a mushroom gets its glow
For the first time, biologists have pinpointed the compound that lights up in fungal bioluminescence. -
Conservation
Science TickerShipping noise can disturb porpoises and disrupt their mealtime
Noise from ships may disturb harbor porpoises enough to keep them from getting the food they need.NewsLight pollution can foil plant-insect hookups, and not just at night
Upsetting nocturnal pollinators has daylight after-effects for Swiss meadow flowers. -
Evolution
Reviews & PreviewsFossils sparked Charles Darwin’s imagination
Darwin’s Fossils recounts how finding extinct species in South America helped Charles Darwin develop his theory of evolution.Letters to the EditorReaders wrangle with definition of ‘species’
Readers asked about the definition of "species," a new atomic clock and how a neutron star collision produces heavy elements. -
Ecology
50 Years Ago50 years ago, invasive species traveled the Suez Canal
Hundreds of Red Sea species used the Suez Canal to migrate to the Mediterranean Sea, leading to the decline of some native species.Reviews & PreviewsInvasive species are a growing global threat
'The Aliens Among Us' describes how invasive species are colonizing — and disrupting — ecosystems worldwide. -
Paleontology
NewsColorful moth wings date back to the dinosaur era
Microscopic structures that scatter light to give color to the wings of modern butterflies and moths date back almost 200 million years.News in BriefThis ancient lizard may have watched the world through four eyes
A lizard that lived 50 million years ago had both a third and a fourth eye. -
Biophysics
News in BriefWhy cracking your knuckles can be so noisy
Knuckles crack due to the partial collapse of bubbles in joint fluid, a new study suggests.NewsEarwigs take origami to extremes to fold their wings
Stretchy joints let earwig wings flip quickly between folded and unfurled.