Uncategorized
- Animals
Strong winds send migrating seal pups on lengthier trips
Prevailing winds can send northern fur seal pups on an epic journey.
- Chemistry
Household products make surprisingly large contributions to air pollution
A study of smog in the Los Angeles valley finds that paints, fragrances and other everyday items are a growing component of the problem.
- Paleontology
Fossil footprints may put lizards on two feet 110 million years ago
Fossilized footprints found in South Korea could be the earliest evidence of two-legged running in lizards.
- Anthropology
In Borneo, hunting emerges as a key threat to endangered orangutans
Only small numbers of Bornean orangutans will survive coming decades, researchers say.
By Bruce Bower - Climate
Look to penguins to track Antarctic changes
Scientists say carbon and nitrogen isotopes found in penguin tissues can indicate shifts in the Antarctic environment.
- Genetics
Study debunks fishy tale of how rabbits were first tamed
A popular tale about rabbit domestication turns out to be fiction.
- Health & Medicine
Cutting off a brain enzyme reversed Alzheimer’s plaques in mice
Inhibiting an enzyme involved in the production of Alzheimer’s protein globs also made old globs, or plaques, disappear in mouse brains.
- Quantum Physics
Quantum computers go silicon
Scientists performed the first quantum algorithms in silicon, and probed quantum bits with light.
- Genetics
Genes could record forensic clues to time of death
Scientists have found predictable patterns in the way our genetic machinery winds down after death.
- Materials Science
New technique shows how 2-D thin films take the heat
A new method exposes how 2-D materials react when heated, which could help engineers build sturdy next-gen electronics.
- Anthropology
Elongated heads were a mark of elite status in an ancient Peruvian society
Elites in ancient Peruvian society developed a signature, stretched-out head shape over several centuries.
By Bruce Bower - Planetary Science
What will it take to go to Venus?
Undeterred by funding woes, scientists are scraping together ideas to tackle heat, pressure and acidity challenges of landing on Venus.