News
- Neuroscience
Some flu strains can make mice forgetful
Mice infected with influenza had memory problems a month later, a result that hints at a link between infections and brain performance.
- Particle Physics
The quest to identify the nature of the neutrino’s alter ego is heating up
The search is on for a rare nuclear decay that could prove neutrinos are their own antiparticles and shed light on the universe’s antimatter mystery.
- Quantum Physics
Two-way communication is possible with a single quantum particle
One photon can transmit information in two directions at once.
- Archaeology
Cave art suggests Neandertals were ancient humans’ mental equals
Ancient humans’ close relatives also created rock art and shell ornaments, studies assert.
By Bruce Bower - Space
Americans would welcome alien life rather than fear it
Americans would probably take the discovery of extraterrestrial microbes pretty well.
- Animals
Ants practice combat triage and nurse their injured
Termite-hunting ants have their own version of combat medicine for injured nest mates.
By Susan Milius - Neuroscience
To hear the beat, your brain may think about moving to it
To keep time to a song, the brain relies on a region used to plan movement — even when you’re not tapping along.
By Dan Garisto - Chemistry
Household products make surprisingly large contributions to air pollution
A study of smog in the Los Angeles valley finds that paints, fragrances and other everyday items are a growing component of the problem.
- Paleontology
Fossil footprints may put lizards on two feet 110 million years ago
Fossilized footprints found in South Korea could be the earliest evidence of two-legged running in lizards.
- Climate
Look to penguins to track Antarctic changes
Scientists say carbon and nitrogen isotopes found in penguin tissues can indicate shifts in the Antarctic environment.
- Genetics
Study debunks fishy tale of how rabbits were first tamed
A popular tale about rabbit domestication turns out to be fiction.
- Health & Medicine
Cutting off a brain enzyme reversed Alzheimer’s plaques in mice
Inhibiting an enzyme involved in the production of Alzheimer’s protein globs also made old globs, or plaques, disappear in mouse brains.