News
- Earth
Currents reach deep for seafloor larvae
Surface waters circulate more than a mile down, transporting organisms between distant ocean-bottom habitats.
By Devin Powell - Tech
Nanotubes coming to a screen near you
New technology promises brighter, bigger display screens that use less energy.
- Life
Antarctic humpbacks make a krill killing
Late-arriving sea ice enhances crustacean feast for whales, but the bounty may be fleeting.
By Susan Milius - Humans
Most Neandertals were right-handers
Right handedness, and perhaps spoken language, originated at least a half million years ago, a new study suggests.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Armadillos may spread leprosy
A new strain of the disease has shown up in patients and in the animals in parts of the Deep South, suggesting a cause of rare U.S. cases.
By Nathan Seppa - Life
Half-asleep rats look wide awake
In a discovery with ominous implications for sleep deprivation, researchers find that some brain regions can doze off while an animal remains active.
- Life
Great (Dane) minds don’t think alike
Female dogs react to an unexpected twist that males show no awareness of, suggesting that canine sexes are wired differently.
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- Life
The eyespots have it after all
New experiments may reconcile conflicting views regarding what makes a peacock’s plumage attractive to females.
By Susan Milius - Life
Teamwork keeps fire ants high and dry
Scientists get a look at the physics that floats a bug's boat.
- Earth
Volcanic ash gets its close-up
Last year’s eruption in Iceland spit out supersharp and potentially harmful particles, nanoscale images show.
- Physics
Salt clouds relieve some Arctic warming
Sea sprays from increasingly open waters exert a cooling effect in the region.
By Janet Raloff