News
- Health & Medicine
Diet sodas may confuse brain’s ‘calorie counter’
Among regular consumers of sugar-free soft drinks, networks that equate sweet flavors with energy intake may grow numb to the real stuff.
By Janet Raloff - Earth
Ancient volcanoes destroyed ozone
Prehistoric eruptions gave off huge amounts of a gas that erodes the UV-blocking atmospheric layer.
- Health & Medicine
Fish oil components may not benefit everyone’s heart
A six-year study finds that omega-3 fatty acids don't lower heart risk in people with diabetes.
By Nathan Seppa - Life
You have grandpa’s chromosome tips
Older fathers pass more gene-protecting DNA to their paternal grandkids.
- Physics
The electric flour voltage test
Granular materials give off a zap just before slipping, a finding with potential implications for sensing the starts of silo disasters or earthquakes.
- Life
Invasive mite worsens honeybee viruses
Once-obscure deformed wing virus swept to prominence in honeybee colonies in Hawaiian islands as invasive pest arrived.
By Susan Milius - Life
Microbes flourish under Arctic sea ice
Oceanographic expedition surprised to find photosynthetic microorganisms thriving under frozen surface.
By Devin Powell - Space
Some newfound planets are something else
A re-evaluation of the Kepler mission’s data suggests one in three hot giant orbs it discovered is actually another kind of object.
By Nadia Drake - Health & Medicine
Replacing fatty acids may fight MS
Patients are deficient in four key lipids that neutralize immune cells linked to inflammation and nerve damage.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Why antipsychotics need time to kick in
Insight into how some schizophrenia drugs work may explain why compounds that build up in the brain can take weeks to provide relief.
- Earth
Arctic’s wintry blanket can be warming
Forested snowscapes keep northern soils relatively toasty, diminishing how much climate-warming carbon they can sequester from the atmosphere.
By Janet Raloff - Animals
How a mosquito survives a raindrop hit
Lightweight insects can ride a water droplet, as long as they separate from it before hitting the ground.
By Susan Milius