News
- Psychology
Why some gorillas go unseen
Attention differences help to explain why some people don't notice surprising sights.
By Bruce Bower - Space
Dry ice, wetter Mars
A previously unknown reservoir of frozen carbon dioxide could periodically vaporize, thickening the atmosphere and allowing liquid water to flow on the Red Planet’s surface.
By Ron Cowen - Earth
Ozone loss made tropics rainier
Hole over Antarctica changes weather patterns all the way to the equator, simulations suggest.
- Chemistry
Pesticides tied to lower IQ in children
Chemicals once sprayed in homes — and still used on farms — were found to have significant effects in three studies.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Flies on meth burn through sugar
Cellular effects may explain why addicts often have a sweet tooth.
- Health & Medicine
Mucus-related gene tied to lung disease
People with pulmonary fibrosis are much more likely to make excess amounts of a normally beneficial protein, a study finds.
By Nathan Seppa - Life
Gut bacteria come in three flavors
Everybody has one of a trio of types — and which one seems to be less important than how the bugs behave.
- Physics
Scientists see the one-way light
Nonlinear materials that allow directional discrimination of waves could be used to make components for light-based computers.
By Devin Powell - Humans
Killing fields of ancient Syria revealed
Stone corrals were used to trap whole herds of animals for mass slaughter.
- Space
NASA pulls out of astrophysics missions
Europe is now on its own for two planned spacecraft to study black holes and gravitational waves.
By Ron Cowen - Humans
Possibly pivotal human ancestor debated
An ancient species that may have sparked the rise of humankind gets a new appraisal.
By Bruce Bower - Life
Complex life hit freshwater early
Tiny fossils in Scottish rock show that cells with nuclei had spread beyond the seas by a billion years ago.
By Susan Milius