6,697 results
- Earth
Farmers without Fungus: How to store peanuts to reduce toxins
African peanut farmers can more than halve their exposure to a class of harmful fungal toxins called aflatoxins by adopting several simple measures after harvest.
- Physics
Tense encounters drive a nanomotor
Exploiting the relative strength of surface tension forces in the world of tiny objects, a novel type of nanomotor creates a powerful thrust each time molten metal droplets merge.
- Earth
Bed of Armor: Large rocks hold fast in flooding streams
The relative proportions of rocks of various sizes in gravel-lined streams remain constant, even during substantial floods.
- Paleontology
Killer Bite: Ancient, tiny mammal probably used venom
Paleontologists have unearthed the remains of an ancient, mouse-size mammal that seems to have had a venomous bite.
- Agriculture
Using Light to Sense Plants’ Health and Diversity
Laser scanners may help farmers better tailor when and how much to fertilize their crops, with side benefits for the environment.
- Physics
Swift Lift: Birds may get a rise out of swirling air
The wings of airborne birds may generate whirlpools of air to produce lift for flying, just as insects do.
- Plants
In a Snap: Leaf geometry drives Venus flytrap’s bite
Behind a Venus flytrap's rapid snap lies an extraordinary shape-changing mechanism.
- Health & Medicine
Curbing Allergy to Insect Venom: Therapy stops reactions to stings years later
Some children don't outgrow an allergy to insect stings, but immunizations against such allergies can protect them into adulthood.
- Animals
Picky-eater termites choose good vibes
Good vibrations may have a lot to do with which pieces of wood a termite attacks.
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There is another answer to how the toxin gets on the bird’s feathers besides the birds eating the beetles. Many birds use insects to preen their feathers. Ralph GundersenSt. Cloud, Minn. “Because we do find significant toxin levels in internal organs . . . we believe that [the birds] are ingesting at least some of […]
- Physics
Magnetic Overthrow
Researchers have discovered and begun to exploit a fundamentally new way to exert magnetic influences, at least on extremely small scales.
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Don’t Let the Bugs Bite
Using disease-control strategies based on genetic engineering, scientists are working to counter Chagas' disease, malaria, sleeping sickness, and other insectborne infections.
