Notebook
- Animals
‘Octomom’ sets egg-brooding record
The deep ocean reveals a new record as an octopus mom broods the same clutch of eggs for almost 4.5 years.
- Animals
Parchment worms are best pinched in the dark
Meek tube-dwelling worms have strange glowing mucus and build papery tubes.
- Health & Medicine
Boot camp bug
Adenoviruses, which cause respiratory illnesses including some colds, plague boot camps.
- Life
Chemical evidence paved way for discovery of early life
The discovery in 1964 of compounds related to chlorophyll in billion-year-old rocks pushed back the timing of life’s origins.
- Animals
Elephant’s big nose wins most sensitive sniffer
A genetic survey reveals that African elephants harbor more smell sensors than any other known animal.
- Paleontology
Baby mammoths died traumatic deaths
CT scans show that two young mammoths probably suffocated.
- Animals
Elephant shrews are, oddly, related to actual elephants
A new species in the group is the smallest yet, with adults smaller than a newborn kitten.
- Animals
New water bear species found in Antarctica
A tiny creature called a tardigrade could shed light on how animals reached the far southern continent.
- Earth
Humans have long history with causing extinctions
Data suggests major die-offs of large animals during the last Ice Age were linked to people, not climate.
- Tech
1960s research paid off in automotive safety
Scientists in 1964 were studying shatterproof glass, which was mandated just a couple of years later.
- Paleontology
Fossils reveal largest airborne bird
Despite its massive size, an extinct bird may have been an efficient glider.
- Psychology
Vocal fry
At the lowest registers of the human voice, a creaky, popping sound known as vocal fry emerges.
