News
- Earth
Lowland tree loss threatens cloud forests
Changes in regional climate brought about by large-scale deforestation in the eastern lowlands of Central America are affecting weather in the mountains downwind, imperiling ecosystems there.
By Sid Perkins - Paleontology
Lemurs reveal clues to ancient Asian roots
A diminutive lemur species inhabited what is now central Pakistan about 30 million years ago, a new fossil find suggests.
By Bruce Bower - Chemistry
Nobel recognizes three for handy chemistry
The 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry honors research that led to new chemicals, materials, and drugs, including widely used heart medicines.
- Ecosystems
Another World Hides inside Coral Reefs
The first systematic survey of crevices inside Red Sea reefs reveals abundant filter feeders that may capture significant nutrients for the reef.
By Susan Milius - Chemistry
Nobel prize: Chemistry
The 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recognizes the development of molecules for catalyzing fundamental reactions used to make countless pharmaceuticals.
- Physics
Nobel prize: Physics
Three scientists have jointly won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics for creating the first samples, 6 years ago, of a long-sought and strange state of matter called a Bose-Einstein condensate.
By Peter Weiss - Health & Medicine
Nobel prize: Physiology or medicine
The 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to three researchers who pioneered work in cell division.
By Nathan Seppa - Paleontology
Large shadows fell on Cretaceous landscape
Paleontologists have unearthed the remains of what they believe could be the largest flying creature yet discovered—a 12-meter-wingspan pterosaur.
By Sid Perkins - Astronomy
New alcohol added to space-stuff catalog
Researchers have discovered the molecule vinyl alcohol in space.
- Humans
Nobel prizes mark 100th anniversary
This year the Nobel prizes are a century old.
By Nathan Seppa - Animals
Wild gerbils pollinate African desert lily
Scientists in South Africa have found the first known examples of gerbils pollinating a flower.
By Susan Milius -
Sound learning may hinge on cue contrasts
Training yields much more improvement in the ability to discriminate subtle differences in the loudness of sounds entering the right and left ears than in the timing of sounds arriving in each ear, a finding with implications for treating some speech and language disorders.
By Bruce Bower