All Stories
- Planetary Science
New dwarf planet discovered lurking beyond Neptune
Newly discovered dwarf planet 2015 RR245 takes about 700 years to orbit the sun and lives among the icy boulders of the Kuiper belt.
- Neuroscience
Post-stroke shifts in gut bacteria could cause additional brain injury
The gut’s microbial population influences how mice fare after a stroke, suggesting that poop pills might one day prove therapeutic following brain injury.
- Health & Medicine
Unprotected sex less risky if HIV-positive partner on antiretroviral therapy
The risk of HIV transmission during unprotected sex drops drastically if the HIV-positive partner is taking antiretroviral therapy.
By Meghan Rosen - Particle Physics
Three cousins join family of four-quark particles
Scientists with the Large Hadron Collider’s LHCb experiment report three new particles and confirm a fourth.
- Anthropology
Earliest evidence of monkeys’ use of stone tools found
600- to 700-year-old nut-cracking stones from Brazil are earliest evidence that monkeys used tools.
- Animals
Beetles that battle make better moms than ones that never fight
Female burying beetles that have to fight before reproducing spend more time caring for offspring than beetles with no fighting experience, a new study finds.
- Life
When mouth microbes pal up, infection ensues
A common and usually harmless species of mouth bacteria can help harmful bacteria become more powerful by providing oxygen.
- Health & Medicine
‘Cracking the Aging Code’ tackles aging from evolutionary perspective
In 'Cracking the Aging Code', theoretical biologist Josh Mitteldorf and writer Dorion Sagan take a different approach to the science of growing old.
- Animals
Documentary looks for meaning in Koko the gorilla’s life
'Koko — The Gorilla Who Talks' documents the nearly 45-year relationship between researcher Penny Patterson and Koko, the subject of an ape sign language project.
By Erin Wayman - Health & Medicine
How one patient spread MERS to 82 people
One person passed the Middle East respiratory syndrome virus to 82 others during an outbreak in South Korea in 2015.
- Climate
Phytoplankton’s response to climate change has its ups and downs
In a four-year experiment, the shell-building activities of a phytoplankton species underwent surprising ups and downs.
- Life
Mini ‘wind farm’ could capture energy from microbes in motion
Bacteria could spontaneously organize and rotate turbines, computer simulations show.