News
- Materials Science
A killer paint job
New findings suggest that nanotechnology paints for walls, ceilings and surfaces could one day be used to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria in hospitals.
- Humans
Teen depression: No genes required
The family-shattering effects of a mother’s depression can prompt the same mood disorder in her children, independent of any genetic risk.
By Bruce Bower -
- Life
This bite won’t hurt a bit
A team dissects the physics of a mosquito bite, working to find a way to design gentler needles.
- Paleontology
Dino domination was in the cards, maybe
A new study finds that early dinosaurs coexisted with and were outnumbered by a competing species. Dinosaurs eventually reigned supreme anyway, but perhaps not because they were better.
- Space
Blast from the past poses puzzle
New observations suggest that the brilliant outburst of a hefty star that first wowed observers in the 1840s could be signs of a new, exotic type of stellar explosion.
By Ron Cowen - Space
Brightest gamma-ray burst
A bit of luck helps astronomers detect the most luminous object ever recorded from Earth.
By Ron Cowen - Health & Medicine
Good day care grime
A study of 952 children in Manchester, England, suggests that children going to day care starting at age 6 months could be less likely to develop asthma later.
- Life
Giant honeybees do the wave
Giant bees coordinate and make waves that would rival those in any football stadium. Predators of the bees don’t find it cheering.
By Susan Milius - Life
Female frogs play the field
A female frog insures a safe home for her young by mating with many males.
- Neuroscience
Highly wired
Men’s brain tissue shows higher density of neuron connections than similar tissue from women.
- Humans
Inborn path to math
A new study links math achievement with individual differences in the ability to rapidly estimate quantities.
By Bruce Bower