News
- Plants
Hybrid rice engineered with CRISPR can clone its seeds
New research has created self-cloning hybrid rice, raising hopes of higher food production.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Babies born in opioid withdrawal have unusually small heads
Infants born dependent on opioids had heads that were smaller than babies whose moms didn’t use the drugs during pregnancy.
- Humans
‘Little Foot’ skeleton analysis reignites debate over the hominid’s species
Long-awaited analyses of the Little Foot skeleton have researchers disagreeing over resurrecting a defunct species name.
By Bruce Bower - Earth
Here’s what was surprising about Kilauea’s 3-month-long eruption
Researchers revealed new insight into the Hawaiian volcano’s most recent eruption.
- Tech
A new way to turn saltwater fresh can kill germs and avoid gunk buildup
A new device that harnesses sunlight to produce pure vapor from seawater could last longer and produce cleaner water than other technology.
- Climate
The list of extreme weather caused by human-driven climate change grows
The tally of extreme weather events linked to climate change continues to grow, with new studies outlining links to more than a dozen events in 2017.
- Planetary Science
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx finds signs of water on the asteroid Bennu
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft found signs of water and lots of boulders on the asteroid Bennu.
- Cosmology
Voyager 2 spacecraft enters interstellar space
Voyager 2 just became the second probe ever to enter interstellar space, and the first with a working plasma instrument.
- Neuroscience
The uterus may play a role in memory
In lab tests, rats that underwent hysterectomies had worse spatial memories.
- Oceans
Volcanic eruptions that depleted ocean oxygen may have set off the Great Dying
Massive eruptions from volcanoes spewing greenhouse gases 252 million years ago may have triggered Earth’s biggest mass extinction.
- Animals
Here’s how geckos (almost) walk on water
New high-speed video reveals how geckos use a hybrid walking-swimming gait in water to reach speeds similar to those on land.
- Genetics
A 5,000-year-old mass grave harbors the oldest plague bacteria ever found
DNA from an ancient strain of the plague-causing bacterium could help uncover the origins of the deadly disease.
By Bruce Bower