News
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Chimps ape others to learn tool use
Chimpanzees appear to develop traditions of tool use by copying one another's behavior and conforming to a successful approach.
- Earth
Can polluted air cause birth defects?
For the second time, scientists have found evidence suggesting that prenatal exposure to air pollution may cause certain birth defects.
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People with malaria attract more mosquitoes
The protozoan causing malaria may facilitate its own spread by making people more alluring to mosquitoes.
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Placebo reins in pain in brain
Pain relief provided by inert medications may reflect increased transmission of a brain chemical involved in regulating stress and suppressing pain.
- Astronomy
Hidden black holes
A new study has added to existing evidence that most of the monster black holes at the cores of galaxies are shrouded by dust.
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Rice, revealed
Researchers have finished a 6-year-long effort to sequence the genome of rice.
- Animals
What’s That Knocking? Sound evidence offered for long-lost woodpecker
Cornell's Laboratory of Ornithology has released recordings from the woods of eastern Arkansas that researchers say could be the distinctive drumming and calls of the ivory-billed woodpecker.
- Chemistry
Presto, Change-o: New solutions could clean up chemistry
Scientists have developed a simple technique to switch an oil-like solvent into a waterlike one.
- Earth
Seafloor features steered tsunamis
Tsunamis circled the globe after a magnitude 9.3 earthquake struck the Indian Ocean last Dec. 26, but the waves didn't spread evenly.
- Health & Medicine
Dark Side of a Blood Builder: Hormone linked to diabetic blindness
Erythropoietin, a hormone that orchestrates growth processes, may contribute to eye damage in people with diabetic retinopathy.
- Anthropology
A Seasoned Ancient State: Chinese site adds salt to civilization’s rise
Analyses of remains from an ancient Chinese site situated along a river indicate that salt making occurred there as long as 4,000 years ago.
- Astronomy
First Supper: X rays may mark eating habits of baby black holes
Astronomers have evidence that just minutes after their tumultuous birth, baby black holes emit powerful burps of X rays that may be fueled by material left over from their first meal.
