News

  1. Life

    Rattlesnakes have reduced their repertoire of venoms

    The most recent common ancestor of today’s rattlesnakes had a huge set of toxin-producing genes. Modern rattlesnake species have independently ditched some of these genes.

    By Laurel Hamers
  2. Archaeology

    Oldest indigo-dyed fabric found

    South American society was first known to use complex dye process on fabrics.

    By Bruce Bower
  3. Life

    Color vision strategy defies textbook picture

    Cone cells in the retina see in black and white and color.

    By Tina Hesman Saey
  4. Astronomy

    Gaia mission’s Milky Way map pinpoints locations of billion-plus stars

    New map of the galaxy provides unprecedented positions of over 1 billion stars and promises of a detailed 3-D atlas to come.