News
- Earth
Coastal waters were an oxygen oasis 2.3 billion years ago
Coastal waters contained enough oxygen to support complex life-forms including some animals hundreds of millions of years before fossils of such life first appear.
- Climate
Petrified tree rings tell ancient tale of sun’s behavior
The 11-year cycle of solar activity may have been around for at least 290 million years, ancient tree rings suggest.
- Health & Medicine
Promise and perils of marijuana deserve more scientific scrutiny
Report outlines medical potential and health dangers of cannabis and its components.
- Chemistry
New molecular knot is most complex yet
The knot is woven from 192 atoms of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen and forms a triple braid with eight crossing points.
- Neuroscience
How mice use their brain to hunt
Messages from the brain’s amygdala help mice chase and kill prey.
- Animals
It takes guts for a sea spider to pump blood
Most sea spiders have hearts, but what really gets their blood flowing are gut contractions.
- Neuroscience
Pain promoter also acts as pain reliever
A pain-sensing protein also regulates activity of pain-relieving opioids.
- Planetary Science
Many tiny moons came together to form moon, simulations suggest
Earth’s moon formed from mini-moons generated by a series of medium to large impacts, rather than from one colossal collision, researchers propose
- Animals
Unusually loose skin helps hagfish survive shark attacks
Hagfish skin that easily slips and slides can be a lifesaver in crises such as shark attacks.
- Chemistry
Debate heats up over claims that hot water sometimes freezes faster than cold
A team of chemists has a new explanation for the Mpemba effect, while other scientists debate if it is even real.
- Neuroscience
Facial-processing area of brain keeps growing throughout childhood
Contrary to scientists’ expectations, a facial-processing area of the brain grows new tissue during childhood, an MRI study suggests.
- Archaeology
Hunter-gatherers were possibly first to call Tibetan Plateau home
Hunter-gatherers may have been Asia’s first year-round, high-altitude settlers.
