All Stories
- Earth
‘Eruption’ looks back at devastating Mount St. Helens blast
In Eruption, a science writer recounts the societal, economic and geologic forces that contributed to the Mount St. Helens disaster.
- Agriculture
FDA to test foods for controversial herbicide
Amid controversy and conflicting studies, the FDA will test food for glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the world.
- Animals
Without a ban on trade in old ivory, elephant killing continues
Samuel Wasser has been working to track down where poached ivory comes from. But to stop the killing, he says, a ban on the ivory trade is necessary.
- Psychology
Psychologist probes possible link between prodigy, autism
The Prodigy’s Cousin explores the baffling world of child prodigies and people with autism.
- Genetics
Dads pass health effects of stress on to sons, mouse study finds
In mice, males exposed to repeated psychological stress developed high blood sugar — and so did their unstressed male offspring.
- Microbes
Missing gut microbes linked to childhood malnutrition
The right mix of gut microbes could prevent kids from succumbing to malnutrition.
- Archaeology
Easter Island people used sharpened stones as tools, not weapons
Sharp-edged stone tools enabled daily survival, not warfare, on Easter Island.
- Materials Science
New carbon cluster has high storage capacity
A new carbon structure could store gases or liquids in honeycomb-shaped cells.
- Health & Medicine
Mini-stomachs brew insulin in mice
Scientists transform stomach cells into insulin factories and grow mini-stomachs for diabetic mice.
- Chemistry
After 75 years, plutonium is still NASA’s fuel of choice
On the 75th anniversary of the discovery of plutonium, the radioactive element is still not a major source of fuel for nuclear power plants in the United States.
- Animals
Chubby king penguins wobble when they waddle
King penguins’ weight gain makes their waddle a bit wobbly, study suggests.
- Humans
Human DNA found in a Neandertal woman
Interbreeding between humans and Neandertals happened earlier than thought, leaving traces in the Neandertal genome.
