News
- Cosmology
Gravitational waves unmask universe just after Big Bang
For the first time, researchers have seen traces of superfast cosmic expansion and gravity waves.
- Physics
A tractor beam reels in objects with sound
A tractor beam of focused sound waves has pulled on an object as large as a Toblerone chocolate bar.
- Science & Society
Slight boost for U.S. climate research funding
While most science funding remains flat lined in President Obama’s 2015 budget, climate change research gets an increase.
- Astronomy
Behemoth star destroys potential solar systems
A massive star in the Orion Nebula is evaporating disks surrounding young stars in its neighborhood but some disks mysteriously manage to survive.
- Archaeology
Roman gladiator school digitally rebuilt
Imaging techniques unveil a 1,900-year-old Roman gladiators’ training center that’s buried beneath a site in Austria.
- Health & Medicine
Experimental drug might get the salt out
Tests in people and rats show sodium levels in blood drop as drug candidate limits the body’s salt absorption.
- Paleontology
Fossil whale skull hints at echolocation’s origins
Ancestors of toothed whales used echolocation as early as 34 million years ago, analysis of a new fossil skull suggests.
- Neuroscience
Brain chemicals help worms live long and prosper
Serotonin and dopamine accompany long lives in C. elegans worms under caloric restriction.
- Life
Acid-bath method for making stem cells under fire
No one has been able to reproduce a new technique for creating stem cells called STAP cells, leading some researchers to call for the retraction of the original research papers.
- Animals
Elephants can tell men’s voices from women’s
Amboseli elephants may pick out age and gender — and even distinguish between languages — when listening to human voices.
- Materials Science
Phosphorene introduced as graphene alternative
Sheets of ultrathin phosphorus could lead to faster semiconductor electronics.
- Ecosystems
City spiders may spin low-vibe webs
Spider webs built on human-made materials have less background bounce than those built on trees and other natural surfaces, which might shrink the arachnid’s hunting success.
