All Stories
- Materials Science
This artificial cartilage gets its strength from the stuff in bulletproof vests
One of the key ingredients in this artificial cartilage is a nanoversion of the synthetic fiber in body armor.
- Health & Medicine
Hormone replacement makes sense for some menopausal women
For healthy women within 10 years of menopause, the benefits of hormone therapy for relief of hot flashes or other symptoms may outweigh the risks.
- Particle Physics
Magnets with a single pole are still giving physicists the slip
Using data from particle accelerators and dead stars, scientists eliminate some possible masses for magnetic monopoles.
- Animals
Why some birds of paradise have ultrablack feathers
Birds of paradise have superblack feathers because of tilted, spiky microscopic features in their feathers.
- Neuroscience
Website invites you to probe a 3-D human brain
Getting up close to the human brain is easy with BrainFacts.org’s interactive organ.
- Genetics
CRISPR gene editor could spark immune reaction in people
Immune reactions could shut down CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing.
- Climate
Warming ocean water is turning 99 percent of these sea turtles female
Green sea turtle populations in part of the Great Barrier Reef are becoming increasingly female due to higher ocean temperatures.
- Astronomy
White dwarf’s inner makeup is mapped for the first time
The first map of the internal composition of a white dwarf star shows these stellar corpses contain more oxygen than expected, challenging stellar evolution theories.
- Microbes
New pill tracks gases through your gut
Swallowing these pill-sized sensors could give new insight into what’s going on in your gut.
- Animals
Blowflies use drool to keep their cool
Personal air conditioning the blowfly way: Dangle a droplet of saliva and then reswallow.
By Susan Milius - Life
A key virus fighter is implicated in pregnancy woes
In mice, activating a key component of the body’s antiviral machinery in response to a Zika infection can cause harm to developing fetuses.
- Anthropology
‘Laid-back’ bonobos take a shine to belligerents
Unlike people, these apes gravitate toward those who are unhelpful.
By Bruce Bower