News
- Paleontology
Mosasaurs were born at sea, not in safe harbors
Newly discovered fossils of prehistoric aquatic reptiles known as mosasaurs suggest that the creatures gave birth in midocean rather than in near-shore sanctuaries as previously suspected.
- Paleontology
Stegosaur tails packed a punch
A mathematical analysis of a fossil stegosaur's bones leaves little doubt that the creature's spike-studded tail was an effective defense against predators.
- Chemistry
Dipping deeper into acid
New experiments reveal how a molecule of acid dissolves in water.
- Astronomy
News flash: Earth still has only one moon
An object discovered orbiting Earth in early September isn't a moon but something much more mundane—an upper stage of a rocket that was used in the Apollo 12 mission to the moon.
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Ah, my pretty, you’re…#&! a beetle pile!
Hundreds of tiny, young blister beetles cluster into lumps resembling female bees and hitchhike on the male bees that they seduce.
- Tech
Civilians get better GPS
President Clinton directed the Defense Department to stop degrading signals from 24 Global Positioning System satellites, allowing civilians to receive the same location-pinpointing accuracy long available to the U.S. military.
- Plants
New gene-altering strategy tested on corn
Scientists have created herbicide-resistant corn with a new kind of genetic engineering that involves subtly altering one of the plant's own genes rather than adding a new gene.
- Astronomy
X-ray satellite goes the distance
Using the sharp X-ray eye of an orbiting observatory, astronomers have employed a novel method to measure distance within the Milky Way.
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Leggy beetles show how insects lost limbs
Inactivating two genes in red flour beetles causes grubs to grow lots of legs—and provides clues to the puzzle of the evolution of the six-legged body plan.
- Paleontology
Africa’s east coast netted ancient humans
Excavations of an exposed reef on Africa's Red Sea coast indicate that humans lived there 125,000 years ago, pushing back the date for the earliest seaside settlement by at least 10,000 years.
- Physics
Intergalactic magnetism runs deep and wide
Mounting evidence that magnetic fields of surprising strength permeate intergalactic space raises questions about how the fields form and what effects they have.
- Health & Medicine
Drug Eases Bone Cancer Pain in Mice
Pain caused by bone cancer in mice can be alleviated somewhat by osteoprotegerin, a drug being tested for osteoporosis, suggesting a possible new treatment for people with this cancer.
