Notebook
- Planetary Science
Mars ‘air’ found thinner
Readers get an update on the Red Planet's atmosphere and how new probes land there with parachutes.
- Animals
Disco clams put on a streak show
Scuba divers call Ctenoides ales the disco or electric clam because the restless, curling lips of its mantle flash bright streaks.
- Health & Medicine
Smoking equality
A study of tobacco smoking patterns reports that more men than women smoke in every country except Sweden.
- Animals
Synchronous birth
For young banded mongoose moms, there’s only one choice for when to give birth — the same day as older, dominant mothers. In communities of these cat-sized animals, all females give birth together, no matter when they became pregnant.
- Animals
When snakes fly
A gliding snake gets some lift by spreading its ribs, but much about its flight remains a mystery.
- Health & Medicine
Vaccine vindication
At least 103 million cases of childhood disease have been prevented by vaccines since 1924.
- Animals
Sperm on a stick for springtails
Many males of the tiny soil organisms sustain their species by leaving drops of sperm glistening here and there in the landscape in case a female chooses to pick one up.
- Physics
Transfixing tetrahedrons
Dervishes are Sufi Muslims who represent the revolving heavens with their spinning dance.
- Tech
Jellyfish-like flying machine takes off
Mimicking sea creatures instead of insects leads to better hovering, scientists find.
- Astronomy
“Black holes” in space
Science News Letter was the first publication to use the term in print in 1964.
- Animals
Flightless birds face extinction
New Zealand’s flightless birds have limped through the last few decades, but conservation efforts have had some success.
- Plants
Kleptoplast
A cellular part such as a light-harvesting chloroplast that an organism takes from algae it has eaten.
