All Stories
- Tech
SpaceX rocket explodes on Florida launchpad
SpaceX has lost a Falcon 9 rocket and its satellite payload in a standard prelaunch test.
- Planetary Science
Water plays big role in shaping dwarf planet Ceres
Findings from the Dawn spacecraft turn up cryovolcanoes, ice patches and hydrated minerals on Ceres, supporting the idea that water helped shape the dwarf planet.
- Health & Medicine
Bacterial weaponry that causes stillbirth revealed
Vaginal bacteria may cause stillbirth by deploying tiny weapons
- Planetary Science
Water has played a big role in shaping dwarf planet Ceres
Findings from the Dawn spacecraft turn up cryovolcanoes, ice patches and hydrated minerals on Ceres, supporting the idea that water helped shape the dwarf planet.
- Materials Science
High-tech cloth could make summer days a breeze
A plastic material like kitchen cling wrap may be the next big thing in high-tech clothing. The fabric lets heat pass through, but blocks visible light, making it opaque enough to wear.
By Meghan Rosen - Animals
In drought, zebra finches wring water from their own fat
A zebra finch with no water or food can keep itself hydrated by metabolizing body fat.
By Susan Milius - Paleontology
Greenland may be home to Earth’s oldest fossils
Dating to 3.7 billion years ago, mounds of sediment called stromatolites found in Greenland may be the oldest fossilized evidence of life on Earth.
- Neuroscience
New Alzheimer’s drug shows promise in small trial
A much-anticipated Alzheimer’s drug shows promise in a new trial, but experts temper hope with caution.
- Animals
Tail vibrations may have preceded evolution of rattlesnake rattle
The rattle on a rattlesnake evolved just once. A new study contends it may have come out of a common behavior — tail vibration — that snakes use to deter predators.
- Animals
For snowy owls, wintering on the prairie might be normal
Some snowy owls leave the Arctic for winter. That’s not a desperate move, new study says.
- Humans
Brain’s blood appetite grew faster than its size
Over evolutionary time, the energy demands of hominid brains increased faster than their volume, a new study finds.
- Astronomy
Radio signal probably not from extraterrestrials
A possible radio signal from extraterrestrials probably originated a lot closer to home.