News
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Brain perks up to uncertain threats
The brain shows particular sensitivity to facial expressions that convey vague threats.
- Plants
Sun-tracking dads make better pollen
In one of the first tests of paternal behavior in plants, snow buttercups that were allowed to follow their natural tendency to track sun movement made more-viable pollen than did tethered blooms.
- Materials Science
Material mimics mother-of-pearl in form and substance
A new synthetic material is so strong and tough that it might one day be used to construct artificial bones or even auto parts.
- Astronomy
Telescope spies a galactic satellite
A huge gas cloud once considered a remnant from when the Milky Way or nearby galaxies formed is, in fact, a satellite of our galaxy.
- Health & Medicine
Domestic Disease: Exotic pets bring pathogens home
The potentially deadly monkeypox virus has spread from Africa to people in several states via infected pet prairie dogs.
- Astronomy
Sharpening a Heavenly Image: Clear view of globular cluster’s crowded core
Using innovative optics to take the twinkle out of starlight, the Gemini North Telescope on Hawaii's Mauna Kea has recorded the sharpest infrared images ever of a crowded grouping of Milky Way stars.
- Materials Science
Fixed Focus: Adjustable lenses from liquid droplets
Seasoned with a pinch of salt, droplets of a polymer precursor become voltage-adjustable lenses that may cut costs in fiberoptic telecommunications.
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Lease on Life: Old mice live longer when given young ovaries
Implanting young ovaries in old mice extends their life expectancy.
- Materials Science
Super Fibers: Nanotubes make tough threads
New fibers made from carbon nanotubes and a polymer appear tougher than any other known synthetic or natural material.
- Health & Medicine
Full-Length Pregnancy: Progesterone product may reduce premature births
A drug related to the female hormone progesterone helps some pregnant women who are prone to premature birth extend their pregnancies.
- Anthropology
African Legacy: Fossils plug gap in human origins
Scientists who discovered three partial Homo sapiens skulls in Ethiopia that date to nearly 160,000 years ago say that the finds document humanity's evolution in Africa, independently of European Neandertals.
- Earth
More fish survive if plankton bloom early
Data collected by Earth-orbiting satellites and oceangoing trawlers suggest that juvenile haddock of Nova Scotia are more abundant in years when plankton populations peak earlier than normal.
