News
- Anthropology
Asian primates hit hard by ancient climate change
Chinese fossils suggest primates diverged in Asia and Africa around 34 million years ago.
By Bruce Bower - Neuroscience
A breakdown product, not ketamine, may ease depression
Ketamine’s breakdown product, not the drug itself, eases depression, a mouse study suggests.
- Earth
Rainwater can help trigger earthquakes
Rainwater plays a major role in the triggering of earthquakes along New Zealand’s Alpine Fault.
- Astronomy
Nearby exoplanet trio new target in search for life
Three nearby exoplanets might be good spots to go looking for signs of alien life.
- Climate
Fizzled 2014 El Niño fired up ongoing monster El Niño
The ongoing El Niño, one of the strongest on record, got a heat boost from a 2014 event that failed due to unfavorable winds.
- Neuroscience
Evidence conflicts on iron’s role in Parkinson’s disease
Experiments yield conflicting results about whether vulnerable nerve cells have too much or too little iron.
- Anthropology
Risky skull surgery done for ritual reasons 6,000 years ago
Some ancient skull surgeries hinged on ritual, not on medical treatment.
By Bruce Bower - Particle Physics
Theorists perplexed by hints of unexpected new particle
Hints of a potential new particle at the LHC have scientists excited, and theoretical physicists are beginning to converge on explanations.
- Animals
Dragons sleep like mammals and birds
Some lizards may sleep in the same way as mammals and birds, a new brain wave study finds.
- Neuroscience
Ions may be in charge of when you sleep and wake
The recipe for sleep and wake may depend on ions.
- Neuroscience
Words’ meanings mapped in the brain
Language isn’t just confined to one region of the brain: The meaning of words spark activity all over the cerebral cortex.
By Meghan Rosen - Astronomy
Gas blasts from black holes show surprising alignment
Unexpected alignment of galactic gas geysers might offer new insight into how galaxies and black holes arise from the cosmic web.