News
- Life
To cook up life, just add citrate
The theory that RNA spawned the first organisms gets a boost from a common compound.
By Sam Lemonick - Planetary Science
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot explained
A computer simulation is the first to explain how Jupiter’s Great Red Spot has survived for the nearly 200 years humans have observed it.
- Life
Compounds defeat malaria at every step
Experimental drugs are first to kill all stages of the parasite’s infection cycle.
By Beth Mole - Health & Medicine
Thalidomide treats Crohn’s disease
Study of children with the inflammatory bowel disorder raises possibility of new use for tainted drug.
By Nathan Seppa - Animals
Odd head of seahorse cloaks its sneak attacks
Head shape creates hydrodynamic fake-out for stealth hunting.
By Susan Milius - Materials Science
Material inspired by dragonfly wings bursts bacteria
Silicon studded with nanostructures could act as antimicrobial coating on medical devices.
By Beth Mole - Archaeology
Early shrine unearthed at Nepal Buddhist site
Ritual structure could help pin down when the sage known as the Buddha lived in South Asia.
By Bruce Bower - Climate
Methane emissions may be far higher than estimated
U.S. fossil fuel and cattle industries may emit far more methane than government estimates indicate.
- Anthropology
Little Red Riding Hood gets an evolutionary makeover
A statistical analysis attempts to track the rise of several widespread folktales.
By Bruce Bower - Astronomy
High-energy neutrinos ensnared from beyond the solar system
Speedy particles detected in Antarctica may point to gargantuan black holes or cataclysmic explosions.
By Andrew Grant - Health & Medicine
Eating nuts may extend a person’s life
People who regularly ate peanuts or tree nuts were less likely to die during decades-long studies.
By Nathan Seppa - Genetics
Ancient Siberian bones clarify Native American origins
Some New World ancestors came from western Eurasia, not East Asia.