All Stories
- Animals
How worm blobs behave like a liquid and a solid
Blobs of worms flow like a fluid, plop like a solid and fascinate scientists.
By Susan Milius - Neuroscience
Nerve cells from people with autism grow unusually big and fast
In some forms of autism, nerve cells develop faster than normal, possibly setting the stage for the disorder, a study finds.
- Animals
Poison toilet paper reveals how termites help rainforests resist drought
Novel use of poisoned toilet paper rolls and teabags led to discovery that termites help tropical forests resist droughts.
By Yao-Hua Law - Oceans
Floating seabirds provide a novel way to trace ocean currents
Seabirds idly drifting with ocean currents provide a novel way to track and understand how these flows change with time and location.
By Jeremy Rehm - Animals
50 years ago, scientists studied orcas in the wild for the first time
The study of killer whales has come a long way since the capture of seven in 1968 allowed scientists to study the animals in their habitat.
By Mike Denison - Anthropology
‘Little Foot’ skeleton reveals a brain much like a chimp’s
An ancient skeleton dubbed Little Foot points to the piecemeal evolution of various humanlike traits in hominids, two studies suggest.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
This protein may help explain why some women with endometriosis are infertile
Infertile women with endometriosis have a reduced amount of a protein found to be important for establishing pregnancy in mice, a study finds.
- Health & Medicine
A new app tracks breathing to detect an opioid overdose
A smartphone app called Second Chance could help save opioid users who shoot up alone.
- Anthropology
Paint specks in tooth tartar illuminate a medieval woman’s artistry
Tooth tartar unveils an expert female manuscript painter buried at a German monastery.
By Bruce Bower - Cosmology
A second repeating fast radio burst has been tracked to a distant galaxy
Astronomers have spotted a second repeating fast radio burst, and it looks a lot like the first.
- Health & Medicine
Studies can be in vitro, in vivo and now ‘in fimo’ — in poop
Scientists have coined a new term — “in fimo” — to describe studies focused on feces.
- Astronomy
Less than a year after launch, TESS is already finding bizarre worlds
The TESS exoplanet hunter has spotted eight confirmed worlds in its first four months, and several of them are really weird.