News
- Materials Science
Magnetic nanorods on cruise control
Chemists have created miniature engines out of nanoscale metallic rods that propel themselves using chemical energy.
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Whalebones show damage from diving
Long-lived sperm whales typically develop bone damage not previously observed in marine mammals but found in some human divers who surface quickly or dive frequently.
- Earth
Air pollution trims fetal growth
Pregnant women who breathe polluted air deliver babies that are typically slightly smaller than those born to other mothers.
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Getting to gray hair’s roots
Scientists have unveiled a root cause for why hair goes gray.
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Goodnight moon, hello Mom and Dad
A California survey indicates that the practice of allowing babies and toddlers to sleep in the same bed as their parents do occurs in two forms, each with its own implications for the quality of family sleep and the children's psychological development.
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Same brain region handles whistles and words
Brain areas already implicated in the use and comprehension of spoken language play comparable roles in the whistled messages of shepherds living on an island near Spain.
- Health & Medicine
Phage Attack: Antibacterial virus might suppress cholera
Bacteria-attacking viruses that infect bacteria hold cholera bacteria in check throughout most of the year except during the rainy season when these viruses become diluted.
- Animals
Crow Tools: Hatched to putter
The New Caledonian crow is the first vertebrate to be shown definitively to have an innate tendency to make and use tools, according to researchers who doubled as bird nannies.
- Earth
Living in a Fog: Secondhand smoke may dull kids’ wits
Millions of U.S. children may have reading deficits because of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.
- Health & Medicine
Not to Your Health: New mechanism proposed for alcohol-related tumors
New findings suggest that alcohol encourages blood vessels to invade tumors, supplying nutrients that promote tumor growth.
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Hands-on Math Insights: Teachers’ mismatched gestures boost learning
As teachers instruct a child, they typically use their hands as well as their voices, but only certain gestures pack a powerful educational punch.
- Paleontology
Reptilian Repast: Ancient mammals preyed on young dinosaurs
Two nearly complete sets of fossilized remains from 130-million-year-old rocks are revealing fresh details about the size and dietary habits of ancient mammals, hinting that some of these creatures were large enough to feast on small dinosaurs.
