News
- Materials Science
Microscopic glass ribbons provide molecular labels
A new type of barcode too small to see with the naked eye holds promise for biomedical research, law enforcement, and everyday life.
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Sleepy brains make memorable waves
Precisely timed electrical discharges in two parts of the brains of sleeping rodents offer clues to how slumber may foster memories of recently learned material.
- Earth
Dust devils produce magnetic fields
Scientists who chase dust devils report that the tiny twisters can produce a small magnetic field that changes magnitude between 3 and 30 times per second.
- Physics
Quantum computers to keep an eye on
A primitive ion-based computer exploiting the weirdness of quantum mechanics has taken an important step forward in problem solving.
- Humans
Talent Found: Top science students chosen in 62nd annual competition
Forty wunderkinder, named as finalists in the annual Intel Science Talent Search, will collect $530,000 in scholarships for original research in science, mathematics, and engineering.
- Earth
Putting Whales to Work: Cetaceans provide cheap labor in the icy deep
Whales equipped with environmental sensors discover warm water beneath Arctic ice.
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Heat-Seeking Missiles: Sperm may follow rising temperature to egg
In a process called thermotaxis, sperm cells may use a temperature gradient in the fallopian tubes to find their way to an unfertilized egg.
- Health & Medicine
Rackets and Radicals: Noise may cause gene damage in heart
Exposure to loud, continuous sound can scatter free radicals within heart tissue and cause injury to cells' DNA even after the din subsides, new animal research suggests.
- Chemistry
Shark Sense: Gel helps animals detect thermal fluctuations
New studies suggest that clear jelly under sharks' skin can enable the animals to detect minute changes in seawater temperature—potentially leading them to prey.
- Animals
Better Than Real: Males prefer flower’s scent to female wasp’s
In an extreme case of sex fakery, an orchid produces oddball chemicals to mimic a female wasp's allure so well that males prefer the flower scent to the real thing.
- Anthropology
Dairying Pioneers: Milk ran deep in prehistoric England
Chemical analyses of prehistoric pot fragments indicate that English farmers milked livestock beginning around 6,000 years ago, providing the earliest confirmed evidence of dairying anywhere in the world.
- Earth
Kilauea: 20 years on, it’s still erupting
As of Jan. 3, Kilauea—Hawaii’s Energizer Bunny of volcanic activity—has been erupting continuously for two decades.
