All Stories by Laurel Hamers
- Paleontology
Like sea stars, ancient echinoderms nibbled with tiny tube feet
An ancient echinoderm fossil preserves evidence of tube feet like those found on today’s sea stars.
- Environment
Air pollution takes a toll on solar energy
Dust and other tiny air pollutants can reduce solar energy output by as much as 25 percent in parts of the world.
- Life
When a fungus invades the lungs, immune cells can tell it to self-destruct
Immune system resists fungal infection by directing spores to their death.
- Health & Medicine
Zika could one day help combat deadly brain cancer
The Zika virus targets cells that cause glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, studies in human cells and mice show.
- Paleontology
This ancient sea worm sported a crowd of ‘claws’ around its mouth
A newly discovered species of arrow worm that lived over half a billion years ago had about twice as many head spines as its modern kin.
- Neuroscience
How an itch hitches a ride to the brain
Scientists have figured out how your brain registers the sensation of itch.
- Climate
Climate change is shifting when Europe’s rivers flood
Data spanning 50 years shows that today, floods come days, weeks, even months earlier in some areas and later in others.
- Materials Science
50 years ago, steel got stronger and stretchier
Today, scientists are still trying to improve steel.
- Paleontology
Giant armored dinosaur may have cloaked itself in camouflage
An armored dinosaur the size of a Honda Civic also wore countershading camouflage, a chemical analysis of its skin suggests.
- Materials Science
Slug slime inspires a new type of surgical glue
A new glue that mimics a slug’s mucus secretions sticks well, even when wet. The adhesive could be used in place of sutures or staples in surgeries.
- Materials Science
Perovskites power up the solar industry
Perovskites are the latest hot materials in solar energy production.
- Health & Medicine
Add penis bacteria to the list of HIV risk factors
Certain bacteria found on the penis raise the risk of HIV infection, a new study finds.
