Notebook
- Planetary Science
Mysterious circles appear, grow on comet
The Rosetta spacecraft caught five circular depressions quickly spreading across a region of comet 67P.
- Paleontology
New dinosaur identified in Alaska
New species of duck-billed dinosaur discovered in the Alaskan permafrost.
By Meghan Rosen - Health & Medicine
Having sex doesn’t trigger heart attacks, study suggests
Sex doesn’t trigger heart attacks, study of patients with cardiovascular disease suggests.
By Meghan Rosen - Anthropology
More than 9,000-year-old decapitated head discovered in Brazil
Human decapitation goes back more than 9,000 years in the Americas.
By Bruce Bower - Animals
These fish would rather walk
Slowpokes of the sea, frogfish and handfish creep along the ocean bottom.
By Susan Milius - Climate
Hurricane reports ignore indirect deaths
Nearly half of all hurricane and tropical storm fatalities are indirect, yet they typically aren’t included in official storm reports.
- Health & Medicine
In 1965, hopes were high for artificial hearts
Developing artificial hearts took longer than expected, and improved devices are still under investigation.
- Oceans
Giant barrel sponges are hijacking Florida’s coral reefs
Giant barrel sponges are gradually taking over and threatening Florida’s coral reefs, a new census suggests.
- Animals
For a female mosquito, the wrong guy can mean no babies
Male Asian tiger mosquitoes leave female yellow fever mosquitoes uninterested in mating with their own species, a process known as “satyrization.”
- Genetics
Evolution caught red-handed
Scientists have named a new gene on the fruit fly Y chromosome “flagrante delicto Y.”
- Genetics
Bad Karma can ruin palm oil crops
Missing epigenetic mark makes for Bad Karma and poor palm oil crops.
- Animals
When octopuses dance beak to beak
The larger Pacific striped octopus does sex, motherhood and shrimp pranks like nobody else.
By Susan Milius