News in Brief
- Anthropology
Ancient hominid ears were tuned to high frequencies
Two ancient hominid species may have heard high-frequency sounds especially well.
- Materials Science
Invisibility cloaks slim down
A new invisibility cloak offers more stealth in a thinner package.
- Health & Medicine
Clinical trial suggests new blood pressure standard
Preliminary results from a clinical trial suggest lower blood pressure targets could reduce rates of cardiovascular diseasae.
- Animals
Invading Argentine ants carry virus that attacks bees
The first survey of viruses in the globally invasive Argentine ant brings both potentially bad and good news.
- Paleontology
New dolphin fossil makes a splash
A newly discovered dolphin fossil provides clues to the evolution of river dolphins in the Americas.
- Life
New microscope techniques give deepest view yet of living cells
Two new microscopy techniques are helping scientists see smaller structures in living cells than ever glimpsed before.
- Animals
Tropical songbirds get their growth spurt late
Tropical songbirds are late bloomers, but that delayed development may give them an advantage after leaving the nest.
- Physics
3-D printed device cracks cocktail party problem
A plastic disk does what sophisticated computers cannot: solve the cocktail party problem.
- Animals
Chimps keep numbers high as forest losses mount
African apes show surprising resilience in face of forest destruction.
- Neuroscience
Altered protein makes mice smarter
By tweaking a single gene, scientists have turned average mice into supersmart daredevils.
- Astronomy
Eight more galaxies found orbiting the Milky Way
The dozens of satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way make excellent laboratories for studying dark matter.
- Animals
Light pollution may disrupt firefly sex
Females of a common big dipper firefly weren’t as flashy when forced to flirt in LED light pollution.
