All Stories

  1. Animals

    Africa’s poison arrow beetles are key in traditional hunting method

    In the Kalahari of Namibia, some San people still hunt with a traditional method — arrows laced with poison taken from beetle larvae.

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  2. Astronomy

    Readers tussle over top science stories of 2015

    Readers tussle over the top spot in our top 25, questions about engineered vocal cords, and more in the February 20 Feedback.

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  3. Astronomy

    In all sorts of circumstances, life finds a way

    Editor in Chief discusses the new marine habitats formed by human pollution and the alarming rise of the Zika virus.

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  4. Life

    Images probe artery-hardening plaques

    Zooming in on hardened arteries shows researchers which plaques pose heart attack risks.

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  5. Planetary Science

    Support grows for a return to ice giants Uranus and Neptune

    Thirty years ago, Voyager 2 cruised past Uranus and then on to Neptune. Now planetary scientists think it’s time to go back.

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  6. Microbes

    Cyanobacteria use their whole bodies as eyeballs

    Little spheres of cyanobacteria cells roughly focus light on sensitive compounds that let them walk in the right direction.

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  7. Environment

    Urban heat islands exist even in the Arctic

    Arctic cities are a source of warming in the far north. Unlike midlatitude heat islands, poorly insulated buildings — not the sun — are a primary source.

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  8. Earth

    Ocean’s plastics offer a floating fortress to a mess of microbes

    Microbes take up residence on ocean plastics, potentially causing changes in ocean environments.

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  9. Agriculture

    Plants trick bacteria into attacking too soon

    Scientists have discovered that a plant compound interferes with bacterial communication.

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  10. Particle Physics

    Physicists find signs of four-neutron nucleus

    Strong evidence of a tetraneutron, an atomic nucleus with four neutrons but no protons, defies physicists’ theoretical expectations.

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  11. Tech

    This roach-inspired robot can wiggle through tight spaces

    Cockroaches inspired a compressible, crevice-navigating robot.

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  12. Neuroscience

    Cancer drug’s usefulness against Alzheimer’s disputed

    A preliminary report questions the anti-Alzheimer’s activity of a cancer-fighting drug.

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