All Stories
- Plants
Here’s why blueberries are blue
Nanostructures in a blueberry’s waxy coating make it look blue, despite having dark red pigments — and no blue ones — in its skin, a new study reports.
- Planetary Science
Saturn’s ‘Death Star’ moon might contain a hidden ocean
A fresh look at Cassini data reveals slight changes in the tiny moon’s orbit that suggest the presence of a vast ocean beneath the satellite’s icy shell.
- Plants
This weird fern is the first known plant that turns its dead leaves into new roots
Cyathea rojasiana tree ferns seem to thrive in Panama’s Quebrada Chorro forest by turning dead leaves into roots that seek out nutrient-rich soil.
- Earth
Where are U.S. earthquakes most likely? A new map shows the hazard risks
Updates to the National Seismic Hazard Model have elevated the average ground shaking hazard across the country.
- Paleontology
A rare 3-D tree fossil may be the earliest glimpse at a forest understory
The 350-million-year-old tree, which was wider than it was tall thanks to a mop-top crown of 3-meter-long leaves, would look at home in a Dr. Seuss book.
- Planetary Science
An asteroid may have exploded over Antarctica about 2.5 million years ago
Tiny spherules of rock found in Antarctic ice may point to the oldest known “airburst,” or midair disintegration of an incoming asteroid.
- Chemistry
The smallest known molecular knot is made of just 54 atoms
Chemists are still trying to figure out why this combination of gold, phosphorus, oxygen and carbon atoms resulted in a molecular knot in the first place.
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Using public health research to save lives
Editor in chief Nancy Shute discusses how overdose prevention centers, where people can use drugs in a supervised setting, are saving lives.
- Planetary Science
Bacteria that can make humans sick could survive on Mars
Experiments suggest that common illness-causing microbes could not only survive on the Red Planet but also might be able to thrive.
- Paleontology
50 years ago, trilobite eyes mesmerized scientists
Decades of research has confirmed that for such simple creatures, trilobites had astoundingly complex eyes.
- Animals
Explore the expected life spans of different dog breeds
An analysis of dogs in the United Kingdom found that breeds like miniature dachshunds have the longest life spans while bulldogs have the shortest.
