News
- Archaeology
Peruvian site yields a golden discovery
The discovery of a 4,000-year-old gold necklace in Peru suggests that social elites and economic growth appeared in a surprisingly simple society.
By Bruce Bower - Animals
Robin stole credit for Batman’s deeds
Bats turn out to be overlooked but significant eaters of insects, pests and other arthropods on shade-grown coffee farms and in tropical forests.
By Susan Milius - Animals
Comb jellies take root in a new tree of animal life
A team of biologists places comb jellies, not sponges, at the base of a new tree of animal life.
By Amy Maxmen - Health & Medicine
Take a Breath: Fatty substance may play role in cystic fibrosis
A fatty compound called ceramide that accumulates in lung cells may be instrumental in the devastating disease cystic fibrosis.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Traveling Toxin: Botox may hitch a ride on nerve cells
New evidence suggests that Botox migrates from the injection site, perhaps traveling along nerve cells.
- Paleontology
Salty Old Cellulose: Tiny fibers found in ancient halite deposits
Researchers have recovered microscopic bits of cellulose from 253-million-year-old salt deposits deep underground.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
Curbing Chemo: Fasting cushions drug’s side effects in mice
Two days of starvation kicks mice's cells into repair mode and helps them endure high doses of chemotherapy.
- Animals
Night Flights: Migrating moths may use a nighttime compass
Silver Y moths choose to fly when wind blows in the same direction that they migrate, and they may even compensate when the wind pushes them off-course.
By Susan Milius - Planetary Science
Caught in the Act? Images may reveal planetary birth
Astronomers, for the first time, have imaged dusty clumps surrounding young stars that could be planets in the making.
By Ron Cowen -
Without Substance: ADHD meds don’t up kids’ drug abuse risk
Boys with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder who take prescribed stimulant medication don't become more likely to abuse drugs than boys who don't receive the medication.
By Bruce Bower -
Rare mutations tied to schizophrenia
Individual-specific DNA deletions and duplications, many located in genes involved in brain development, occur in an unusually large percentage of people with schizophrenia.
By Bruce Bower - Materials Science
Squid beaks are hardly soft
Water softens squid beaks toward their base, so they don't cut into the squid's own soft tissue.