1,416 results
- Animals
Public tantrums defeat monkey moms too
Rhesus macaque moms are more likely to give in to screaming babies when bystanders are watching and reacting
- Math
Chicks do arithmetic
Using the natural inclination of young chickens to cluster in large groups, researchers show that the birds are hatched with a numerical sense.
- Health & Medicine
BPA and babies: Feds acknowledge concerns
Federal health and research officials outlined new guidance today for parents on the use of plastics made from bisphenol-A, a hard, clear plastic. Their bottom line: Minimize BPA-based products that could make contact with foods or drinks that infants or toddlers might consume — especially hot foods and drinks. But the Food and Drug Administration stopped short of recommending that parents pitch baby bottles and sippy cups made from BPA. Nor did it call for parents to avoid processed infant formulas and baby foods — some of which it acknowledges are contaminated with traces of BPA.
- Animals
Tool use to crow about
A pair of new studies indicates that crows can employ tools in advanced ways, including using stones to displace water in a container and manipulating three sticks in sequence to reach food.
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The Primate Family Tree: The Amazing Diversity of Our Closest Relatives by Ian Redmond
Firefly Books, 2008, 176 p., $35.
- Life
Jumping genes provide unexpected diversity
Mobile DNA elements have stuffed and shrunk the human genome, a comparison of two genomes reveal
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Coding and Redundancy: Man-Made and Animal-Evolved Signals by Jack P. Hailman
Harvard Univ., 2008, 257 p., $39.95.
- Humans
2009 Science News of the Year: Humans
An artist’s illustration shows how a female Ardipithecus may have looked. An analysis of Ardi’s bones, uncovered from 1992 through 1997, was released this year. Credit: J.H. Matternes Ardi puts new spin on hominid evolution A 4.4-million-year-old partial female skeleton discovered in Africa, along with fossils from at least 36 of her comrades, provide the […]
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Stomach’s Sweet Tooth
Turns out taste is not just for the tongue.
- Life
2009 Science News of the Year: Life
Breeding records for sheep on Hirta offer an unusual opportunity to study inheritance. Image Credit: Arpat Ozgul Gentler winters shrink sheepWarming has trumped the benefits of fat to shrink sheep on the remote North Atlantic island of Hirta, a new analytical approach has revealed (SN: 8/1/09, p. 12). Weights for wild female Soay sheep dropped […]
- Humans
Partial skeleton gives ancient hominids a new look
African hominid fossils, including a partial skeleton, reveal a surprising mix of features suitable for upright walking and tree climbing 4.4 million years ago.
- Life
Duplication in genomes may separate humans from apes
A sudden peak in duplication of chunks of DNA in the common ancestor of humans, chimps and gorillas led to genetic flexibility, which created differences among the species.
