News
- Life
Close look at new fungus reveals origins, spread of salamander killer
A second chytrid fungus described last year targets salamanders and may be spreading in the animal export trade.
- Earth
Early animals couldn’t catch a breath
Low levels of oxygen may have hindered evolution of animal life hundreds of millions of years ago.
- Health & Medicine
Heavy milk drinking may double women’s mortality rates
In a study of 60,000 Swedes, drinking three or more classes of milk a day was associated with higher chances of death, cancer and hip fractures.
- Health & Medicine
Harmless bacterium edges out intestinal germ
Researchers treated C. difficile infections in mice with a closely related bacteria that blocks C. difficile growth.
- Genetics
Men who lose Y chromosome have high risk of cancer
Losing the Y chromosome in blood cells may bring on cancer and shorten men’s lives.
- Plants
How female ferns make younger neighbors male
Precocious female ferns release a partly formed sexual-identity hormone, and nearby laggards finish it and go masculine.
- Genetics
Easter Islanders sailed to Americas, DNA suggests
Genetic ties among present-day populations point to sea crossings centuries before European contact with Easter Island.
- Science & Society
E-commerce sites personalize search results to maximize profits
Travel and retail websites alter search results depending on whether consumers use smartphones or particular web browsers.
- Environment
No water contamination found in Ohio’s fracking epicenter
Methane in Ohio groundwater comes from biological sources, such as bacteria, not fossil fuel exploration.
- Humans
Oldest human DNA narrows time of Neandertal hookups
A 45,000-year-old Siberian bone provides genetic clues about the timing of interbreeding between ancient humans and Neandertals.
- Physics
Magnetic detector identifies single protons
An MRI-like machine can scan an individual proton, raising prospects that a similar technique could eventually image biological molecules one by one.
- Environment
Engineered plants demolish toxic waste
With help from bacteria, plants could one day clean up polluted sites.
