News
-
Insecticide gets help from gut bacteria
The world's most widely used organic insecticide appears to rely on an insect's normal gut flora to do its dirty work.
- Tech
Muscling up colors for electronic displays
Researchers have found a way to provide the complete color palette for television and computer screens.
By Peter Weiss - Tech
Long-Sought Laser? Standard microchips may gain speedy optical connections
Although not made exclusively of silicon, a new type of laser runs on electricity and could be mass manufactured in the same factories as silicon microchips are.
By Peter Weiss - Paleontology
Flying with Their Legs: Hind feathers made primitive bird nimble
The earliest-known bird had feathers on its legs that may have provided lift for flight, improving its maneuverability.
- Animals
Crickets on Mute: Hush falls as killer fly stalks singers
Within just 5 years, singing has nearly died out among a population of cricket on a Hawaiian island.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
UV Blocker: Lotion yields protective tan in fair-skinned mice
A lotion that stimulates production of the skin pigment melanin induces a deep tan in specially bred laboratory mice.
By Nathan Seppa - Astronomy
Enigmatic Eruptions: Gamma-ray bursts lack supernova fireworks
The most powerful bursts in the universe may have gotten more mysterious.
By Ron Cowen - Health & Medicine
Graveyard Shift: Prostate cancer linked to rotating work schedule
Men who alternate between daytime and nighttime shifts on their jobs have triple the normal rate of prostate cancer, according to a Japanese nationwide study.
By Ben Harder - Anthropology
Evolution’s Child: Fossil puts youthful twist on Lucy’s kind
Researchers have announced the discovery of the oldest and most complete fossil child in our evolutionary family yet found.
By Bruce Bower -
Mood disorder cuts work performance
A national survey finds that people with bipolar disorder lose even more workdays each year as a result of their illness than do workers with major depression.
By Bruce Bower - Tech
Start your engines
Mechanical engineers have developed a system that greatly decreases the amount of toxic hydrocarbons a car releases.
By Eric Jaffe - Planetary Science
SMART stop
The European Space Agency's first mission to the moon ended with a deliberate bang on Sept. 3.
By Ron Cowen