News
- Animals
Tiger beetles may weaponize ultrasound against bats
In response to recordings of echolocating bats, tiger beetles emit noises that mimic toxic moths that bats avoid.
- Health & Medicine
Extreme heat will put millions more older adults at risk in the future
By 2050, as many as an additional 246 million adults 69 and older could experience temperature extremes that exceed 37.5° Celsius.
- Health & Medicine
Cows might host both human and bird flus
Both kinds of influenza viruses may break into cattle cells using receptors similar to those in people, wild birds and poultry.
- Health & Medicine
A new gel stops mice from getting too drunk
The iron-milk substance can break down alcohol fast and protect against liver damage in mice. Scientists hope to test the gel in people next.
- Cosmology
The universe may have a complex geometry — like a doughnut
Physicists haven’t yet ruled out the possibility that the universe has a complicated topology in which space loops back around on itself.
- Health & Medicine
Chronic asthma could be caused by cell overcrowding in the airways
Identifying drugs to reduce the excessive expulsion of cells in the lung lining could reduce the damage of chronic asthma.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, phantom pain was blamed on misfiring nerves
Researchers now know that the cause of post-amputation pain is more complex, which is leading to new treatments.
- Earth
A weaker magnetic field may have paved the way for marine life to go big
Decreased protection from cosmic radiation may have increased oxygen levels in the atmosphere and oceans, allowing animals to grow larger.
- Space
NASA’s budget woes put ambitious space research at risk
Mars Sample Return and missions to study other planets and celestial bodies, including lunar efforts, face big cuts and delays.
- Animals
This snake goes to extremes to play dead — and it appears to pay off
When dice snakes fake their death to avoid predators, those that use a combination of blood, poop and musk spend less time pretending to be dead.
- Neuroscience
Lampreys have ‘fight or flight’ cells, challenging ideas about nervous system evolution
The discovery of sympathetic nervous system cells in lampreys draws a closer tie between the animal and complex vertebrates — such as humans.
- Climate
As the Arctic tundra warms, soil microbes likely will ramp up CO2 production
Experiments in mini greenhouses show how the tiny organisms lurking underground in a "sleepy biome" could be a contributor to climate change.
