News
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Funnel-web males send knockouts in air
Male funnel-web spiders seem to waft some kind of gas toward females that renders the females limp, enabling the males to mate without being eaten.
By Susan Milius -
River dolphins can whistle, too, sort of
In the most elaborate attempt so far to eavesdrop on Brazil's pink river dolphins, researchers have detected what may be a counterpart to seafaring dolphins' whistles.
By Susan Milius -
Do parents with extra help goof off?
When researchers stepped in to help feed baby sparrows, the parents did not slack off but brought even more food.
By Susan Milius -
New robot frog gets into fights
Researchers have finally managed to build a robot frog that can provoke male frogs to attack.
By Susan Milius -
Nursing moms face meds dilemma
A research review yields a little advice and a lot of uncertainty for nursing mothers with mental disorders who may expose their babies to potential dangers if they take prescribed psychoactive drugs.
By Bruce Bower -
Medicinal mirth gets research rebuke
Little scientific evidence to date supports any of the purported physical health benefits of laughter and humor, a psychologist concludes.
By Bruce Bower -
Health & Medicine
Chemotherapy leads to bone loss
In women with early-stage breast cancer, malfunctioning ovaries and significant bone loss can occur within 6 months of chemotherapy treatment.
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Health & Medicine
Inflammation linked to diabetes
Women who go on to develop diabetes seem to have signs of widespread, low-level inflammation years before they have symptoms of the disease.
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Ecosystems
Fish stocking may transmit toad disease
Hatchery-raised trout can transfer a deadly fungus to western toads, bolstering the view that fish stocking may play a role in amphibian population declines.
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Paleontology
Neandertals, humans may have grown apart
A controversial fossil analysis finds that the skulls of Neandertals and humans grew in markedly different ways.
By Bruce Bower -
Animals
Roach gals get less choosy as time goes by
As their first reproductive peak wanes, female cockroaches become more like male ones, willing to mate with any potential partner that moves.
By Susan Milius -
Paleontology
Study picks new site for dinosaur nostrils
A new analysis of fossils and living animals suggests that most dinosaurs' nostrils occurred at locations toward the tip of their snout rather than farther up on their face, a concept that may change scientists' views of the animals' physiology and behavior.
By Sid Perkins