News
- Earth
World’s windiest ocean locale
News briefs from the American Meteorological Society annual meeting being held January 11–15 in Phoenix.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
Omega-3 fatty acid is early boost for female preemies
DHA given to newborns in the first weeks following birth improves brain development in girls, but not boys.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Going nano to see viruses 3-D
Nanoscale MRI-like machine images individual virus shapes; first step to seeing proteins in 3-D
- Life
Dinosaur fossil reveals creature of a different feather
Paleontologists have discovered a fossil partially covered with broad, unbranched filaments — a type of structure previously theorized to exist on primitive feathered dinosaurs but not found until now.
By Sid Perkins - Life
Genetic sameness could be factor in Tasmanian tiger extinction
The first complete mitochondrial genome of the Tasmanian tiger is revealed. Analysis shows little genetic diversity.
- Archaeology
Armenian cave yields ancient human brain
A team of scientists has excavated 6,000-year-old artifacts and three human skulls, including one containing a preserved brain, from a cave bordering Armenia’s Arpa River.
By Bruce Bower - Archaeology
Early chemical warfare comes to light
Investigations of a Roman garrison in Syria conquered in a massive assault by Persians nearly 2,000 years ago have uncovered evidence of the earliest known chemical warfare.
By Bruce Bower - Archaeology
Shipwrecks harbor evidence of ancient sophistication
Research on shipwrecks from two ancient, submerged harbors shows that frame-based shipbuilding emerged surprisingly early and then became more sophisticated within a few hundred years.
By Bruce Bower - Life
Superloud moth jams bat sonar
Newly recorded moth could be the first demonstrated case of natural sonar-jamming.
By Susan Milius - Math
Calculating the geography of crime
A mathematician fine-tunes how to blend crime records, geography to track down serial criminals.
- Life
Love song of the dengue vector mosquito
Male and female mosquitoes harmonize pitch when in the mood.
- Health & Medicine
Sirtuin shown to control gene activity
A previously overlooked protein called SIRT6 provides some molecular clues to aging.