News
- Ecosystems
Flowering plants welcome other life
When angiosperms diversified 100 million years ago, they opened new niches for ants, plants and frogs.
- Humans
Women have hormonal cues for baby cuteness
Premenopausal women and women taking oral contraceptives are especially sensitive to the cuteness of babies’ faces, partly thanks to raised levels of reproductive hormones, a new study suggests.
- Life
Molecular link between vitamin D deficiency and MS
Scientists have discovered a molecular link that may help explain why Vitamin D deficiency is associated with multiple sclerosis.
- Genetics
Dog gene heeds call of the wild
Domesticated dogs passed a gene for dark fur color to their wild cousins.
- Life
Caterpillar noise tricks ants into service
Sneaky interlopers mimic the “voice” of an ant queen to get royal treatment from the colony. (Audio included.)
- Health & Medicine
How the body rubs out West Nile virus
Tests in mice show how the immune system tracks down cells infected with West Nile virus, findings that might explain why some old people fare worst from the virus.
- Earth
Animal ancestors may have survived ‘snowball Earth’
Chemical fossils in Precambrian sedimentary rock push back the first date for animal life.
- Space
Early galaxy bulges in the middle
By tracing star birth in a galaxy that existed when the universe was less than 1 billion years old, researchers have captured what appears to be the formation of a key galactic component — a central concentration of stars known as the bulge.
- Life
Earliest whales gave birth on land
Recently discovered fossils of a protowhale help fill in gaps in the land-to-water transition.
- Space
Smallest known transiting planet discovered
Astronomers have found the smallest known extrasolar planets that is blocking light from its parent star. The discovery could help reveal information about the structure of planets that may resemble Earth.
- Health & Medicine
Needles can stick it to pain
Acupuncture lessens pain, but so do needles randomly stuck in the skin, a new analysis shows.
- Life
Nemo could get lost again as seawater approaches acidity
Reef fish raised at a seawater pH expected for the year 2100 don't smell their way around normally.
