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Agriculture

Biotech cotton: Less spray but same yield

The way farmers grow transgenic cotton in Arizona lets them skip some of their regular spraying but end up with the same yield as traditional farmers, as well as the same impact on ants and beetles.

Humans

Report knocks NASA funding

A new National Academy of Sciences study joins the chorus of critics that claim NASA is overextended, sacrificing basic- science research in order to finish building the International Space Station and fund President Bush's plan to return astronauts to the moon.

Tech

Illuminating Changes

Indoor lighting is undergoing a dramatic metamorphosis toward energy-conserving systems that rely on solid-state technologies.

Health & Medicine

Now Hear This

Genetics research, work with stem cells, and studies of the inner ear's delicate architecture suggest that it might be possible to restore cells pivotal to hearing.

Humans

From the May 9, 1936, issue

A fortress for studying atoms, a new weapon against cancer, and the future of communication.

Humans

Letters from the May 13, 2006, issue of Science News

Now hear this Unless the writer is deliberately implying an archaic theory of evolution in “Can you hear me now? Frogs in roaring streams use ultrasonic calls” (SN: 3/18/06 p. 165), the statement “Ultrasonic perception may have developed as the frogs (Amolops tormotus) struggled to hear each other . . .” cannot be true. That’s […]

Humans

The Mind of Leonardo

This stunning online exhibit from the Institute and Museum of the History of Science in Florence, Italy, features the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci. Visitors can view some of Leonardo’s famous drawings, read lucid descriptions of his interests and achievements (particularly his studies of motion), learn about the science of painting, and get […]

Anthropology

Cattle’s Call of the Wild: Domestication may hold complex genetic tale

A new investigation of DNA that was obtained from modern cattle and from fossils of their ancient, wild ancestors challenges the idea that herding and farming groups in the Near East domesticated cattle about 11,000 years ago.

Animals

Monkey Business: Specimen of new species shakes up family tree

The new monkey species found in Tanzania last year may be unusual enough to need a new genus, the first one created for monkeys in nearly 80 years.

Planetary Science

Hubble eyes Jupiter’s second red spot

Hubble Space Telescope images are providing astronomers with the sharpest views yet of a new red spot on Jupiter.

Health & Medicine

Sleight of Herb: Black cohosh mislabeled in medicinal products

A sizable fraction of the herbal supplements marketed as preparations of black cohosh contains none of that North American plant.

Earth

Blast Survivors: Fragments of asteroid found in ancient crater

Pieces of an asteroid that blasted a 70-kilometer-wide crater in southern Africa millions of years ago may have been found intact inside the thick layer of once-molten rock that the impact left behind.