Notebook
- Animals
Inside the roaring sex lives of howler monkeys
Listening to the intense roars of howler monkeys in Mexico inspired scientists to decipher how and why calls differ among species.
- Astronomy
Super-Earths, meet superpuffs, a lighter weight class of planet
Superpuffs are underweight, oversized planets that formed in outskirts of star systems before cuddling up close to their sun.
- Archaeology
Mystery still surrounds Neandertals
Neandertals’ relationship to modern humans is still a matter of debate.
- Life
Many Amazon trees endangered
Large numbers of Amazon tree species are threatened by deforestation.
- Health & Medicine
Having parasites can boost fertility
Infection with parasitic worms tinkers with fertility.
- Planetary Science
Way-out world is solar system’s most distant object — for now
An icy world over 15 billion kilometers from the sun is the new record holder for most distant object in the solar system.
- Astronomy
Cosmic rays maintain their mystery
Cosmic rays come from all over the universe, including some places we’re not so sure about.
- Health & Medicine
Parasite gives a man cancer
Tapeworms can kick parasitism up a notch to become cancer, a case in Colombia shows.
- Animals
Hunchbacked conchs jump at the smell of danger
Hunchbacked conchs are among the most vigorous of snailkind’s few jumpers.
- Climate
How to melt an ice cave
Frigid winter air keeps gives ice caves their perpetual chill, researchers find, warning that airtight seals on some ice caves could cause the frigid formations to melt within decades.
- Neuroscience
1960s dog brain transplant was not followed by human studies
A pioneering study to transplant a dog’s brain led to later work on a monkey, but ethical considerations and technical know-how have prevented further work.
- Life
How electric eels put more zip in their zap
With feisty prey, an electric eel curls its tail to intensify shocks and exhaust prey.
