News
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Phages take breaks while ejecting DNA
Bacterial viruses, or phages, inject DNA into their prey in a way that is more complicated than researchers had previously thought.
- Earth
Lightning creates radiation-safe zone
A relatively safe region within the seas of radiation that surround Earth owes its existence to lightning storms.
- Astronomy
Moon story waxes fuller
A new analysis may have put the final piece in the puzzle of how the Moon formed.
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Plants fix genes using copies from ancestors
Some plants can reinstate genes missing from their own chromosomes but that had been carried by previous generations.
- Planetary Science
Dusty rejuvenation
The Mars rover Spirit recently had its dirty solar arrays cleaned off, possibly by a dust devil, allowing the craft to generate nearly as much energy as it did when it first landed on the Red Planet in January 2004.
- Ecosystems
Quick Fix: How invasive seaweed repairs its wounds
Scientists have discerned the chemistry underlying the rapid wound-healing process in an invasive green alga that is wreaking havoc in the Mediterranean Sea.
- Astronomy
Star Packed: Super cluster is first to be detected in Milky Way
Astronomers have detected the most massive and densest cluster of young stars ever detected in the Milky Way, a finding that could shed light on how stars formed in the early universe.
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Little Brains That Could: Bees show big-time working memory
Even though a honeybee's brain could fit on the head of a match, the creature's working memory is nearly as effective as that of a pigeon or a monkey.
- Tech
Leak Locator: Ultrasound for finding holes in spacecraft
Researchers have devised a way to pinpoint leaks in spacecraft by listening to ultrasound waves traveling through the ship's hull.
- Earth
Breeding Parasites Along with Fish: Do sea lice from salmon farms spread far?
Marine parasites known as sea lice spread readily from farmed salmon to passing wild fish, according to a controversial study conducted in British Columbia.
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Follicle Size Matters: Hormone regimen may reduce pregnancy success
Hormone injections used to induce livestock and women to ovulate could force eggs to leave ovarian follicles before they are fully mature and thereby jeopardize pregnancy outcomes.
- Physics
Pinstripe Electricity: Novel fuel cell relies on thin, aqueous streams
A promising new type of fuel cell exploits microstreams of water, which behave like flows of gooey honey.
