News
- Health & Medicine
Nearsightedness increasing in the United States
A new study suggests that myopia has increased by more than 60 percent since the 1970s.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
New material could support stem cell development
A ’smart’ gel could help coax stem cells to develop into heart cells.
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- Life
Dinosaurs broiled, not grilled
Debris from K-T impact could have been heat source and heat shield.
- Paleontology
New fossil helps solidify dino origins
The dog-sized creature bolsters the notion that early dinosaurs first appeared in what is now South America.
By Sid Perkins - Earth
Earth’s atmosphere may be extraterrestrial in origin
Analyses of krypton, xenon hint that air didn’t fizz from within the planet.
By Sid Perkins - Life
Fruit flies can be alcoholics too
Drinking behavior of Drosophila shows similarities to human addiction.
- Space
Heat-seeking WISE spacecraft to scan the skies
The new instrument promises to discover millions of infrared-bright galaxies and thousands of previously unknown asteroids and brown dwarfs.
By Ron Cowen - Life
When feminine beauty thrives on competition
Gorgeous plumage for both starling sexes comes from rivalry in co-op nests
By Susan Milius - Anthropology
Ancient Maya king shows his foreign roots
Copán’s first king may have been part of a colonial expansion by another, distant Maya kingdom.
By Bruce Bower - Earth
The big spill: Flood could have filled Mediterranean in less than two years
Discovery of a distinctive channel and new calculations of possible water movement suggest a fast and furious flow formed the sea.
- Humans
Another livestock drug endangers vultures
After one veterinary NSAID almost wiped out vultures in South Asia, one of the possible replacements turns out to be toxic too.
By Susan Milius