Science Ticker
A roundup of research and breaking news
- Animals
This may be the world’s tiniest snail
Tiny snail unearthed in China could be the world's smallest, researchers report.
- Animals
Some bats chug nectar with conveyor belt tongues
Grooved bat tongues work like escalators or conveyor belts, transporting nectar from tip to mouth.
- Planetary Science
Salt streaks sign of present-day water flows on Mars
Salt deposits on Mars hint at contemporary seasonal water flows on the Red Planet.
- Animals
Don’t judge a whale’s gut microbiome by diet alone
Evolutionary history and diet may both determine the microbes that live in a baleen whale's stomach, researchers report.
- Anthropology
Ancient hominid ears were tuned to high frequencies
Two ancient hominid species may have heard high-frequency sounds especially well.
- Astronomy
This weekend, lunar eclipse coincides with supermoon
On September 27, sky gazers will be treated to a rare type of total lunar eclipse.
- Health & Medicine
Balloons-and-glue device seals remote wounds inside the body
To repair damaged tissue, surgeons can deliver a glue patch using two balloons and a blast of UV light.
- Physics
Invisibility cloaks slim down
An ultrathin invisibility cloak called a skin cloak offers more stealth in a thinner package.
- Animals
Warmer waters give Arctic mosquitoes a growth spurt
Arctic mosquitoes develop faster in warmer waters, outpacing increased predation.
- Planetary Science
Satellite captures double solar eclipse in action
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory caught a rare double eclipse as both Earth and the moon partially blocked the sun.
- Climate
Earth just had its first storm-free hurricane peak in 38 years
This year marks the first time since 1977 that September 12, the typical height of the Atlantic hurricane season, passed without a single major cyclone anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere.
- Ecosystems
Patrolling bats protect corn fields from pests
Bats play a key role in protecting corn from pests and fungus.
