News
- Life
Beetles grow weed killer
Beetle moms carry their own bacteria for making a compound to protect their gardens.
- Earth
Sea-level history off the ice
For the first time, researchers have assembled a comprehensive record of how sea level varied between 542 million and 251 million years ago, more than doubling previous timelines for such fluctuations.
- Physics
Shaping up the sun
The most accurate measurements yet of the sun’s shape show that magnetic activity plays a role in making the sun appear more oval than it really is.
- Life
Bicoastal Atlantic bluefin tuna
Mediterranean and western Atlantic bluefin tuna spend more time in mixed groups than previously thought, suggesting management strategies need to be revisited.
- Physics
Diamonds engage at the nano scale
Manipulating the quantum properties of diamond impurities makes diamond into a kind of microscope that could, for example, reveal the inner working of cells.
- Health & Medicine
Don’t forget diet composition
Caloric restriction, an antiaging technique, fails to lower levels of IGF-1, a growth factor that, in high amounts, is linked to cancer in humans. But cutting protein along with calories does decrease IGF-1.
- Life
Old fish, new fish, red fish, blue fish
A difference in vision in cichlids in Lake Victoria could be pushing a species to split into two.
- Health & Medicine
Pregnancy curiosity
Asian-Caucasian couples having children face slightly increased risks of pregnancy complications.
- Health & Medicine
Anthrax vaccine makeover
Revamped anthrax vaccination regimen eases some side effects that have hampered the vaccine’s acceptance.
- Humans
Machu Picchu’s far-flung residents
A new chemical analysis of skeletons at the Inca site of Machu Picchu strengthens the idea that the royal estate was maintained by retainers who had been uprooted from homes throughout the empire.
- Planetary Science
Water’s role in Martian chemistry becoming clearer
As mission nears end, Phoenix Mars Lander finds strong evidence for minerals similar to those formed on Earth by liquid water.
- Space
Hubble suddenly quiet
Updated September 30: After the orbiting observatory suddenly stopped transmitting data, NASA announced planned repair mission will be delayed at least until early next year
