Animals
‘Domesticated’ explores how humans have altered animals
Science journalist Richard Francis delves into the genetic changes humans have caused in dogs, cats, pigs, horses, camels and more.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Health & Medicine
Pink blobs of hope in cancer-targeting quest
Cancer drugs coated with plastic can reach a mouse’s lungs for targeted delivery, but steering the capsules to the right spots can be a challenge.
Notebook
Physics
Why lattes are less prone to spills than regular coffee
Foam dampens liquids’ sloshing, keeping keeps lattes and beer from spilling so easily, researchers find.
Features
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Celebrating 25 years of the Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope has served for more than two decades as the sharpest eyes ever to peer into the universe.
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Five years on, Deepwater Horizon oil spill’s impact lingers
Five years after the Gulf of Mexico’s largest disaster, researchers are still studying its ecological impact and struggling to learn the fate of most of the spilled oil.
More Stories from the April 18, 2015 issue
- Plants
Tropical plant knows whose bill is in its flowers
A rainforest plant avoids inbreeding by accepting pollen only from hummingbird species that must travel to reach it.
- Life
Experimental herpes vaccine works in mice
An experimental herpes vaccine works in animal tests by using an approach starkly different from that used in previous vaccine development.
- Neuroscience
Electrical zap of cells shapes growing brains
The electric charge across cell membranes directs many aspects of brain development, and changing it can fix certain brain birth defects.
- Planetary Science
Something’s cooking on Enceladus
A trail of silicon-rich particles in one of the rings of Saturn points to possible hydrothermal activity on Enceladus.
- Climate
Arctic warming bolsters summer heat waves
Sagging storms brought on by rapid Arctic warming worsen summertime heat waves across the Northern Hemisphere.
- Planetary Science
Chinese rover reveals moon’s layers
Radar imaging done by China’s Yutu lunar rover reveals that the moon’s geological history could be more complex than once thought.
- Anthropology
People moved into rainforests much earlier than thought
People lived year-round in rainforests well before previous estimates, an analysis of teeth excavated in Sri Lanka suggests.
- Astronomy
Super-Earths may form in two ways
Rocky planets much heavier than Earth may form in different ways.
- Archaeology
Ring brings ancient Viking, Islamic civilizations closer together
Ancient find fingers ninth century connection between Vikings and Islamic civilization.
- Quantum Physics
Finding quantum entanglement in a crowd
Physicists have measured entanglement between pairs of photons within a macroscopic beam of light, a first step toward understanding how particles’ quantum connections lead to large-scale effects.
- Chemistry
Cooking up life’s ingredients, all in one pot
An interconnected series of chemical reactions with a few primordial chemicals can cook up all the necessary elements of life
- Materials Science
Copper-wire ‘metamirror’ reflects selectively
A metamaterial mirror reflects only a single wavelength of light, potentially leading to more compact and affordable radio antennas.
- Chemistry
New method leaves older ways of 3-D printing in its goopy wake
Finding the sweet spot in a pool of resin, chemists can create detailed 3-D objects faster than 3-D printers.
- Health & Medicine
Aspirin, other painkillers may not reduce colorectal cancer risk for everybody
Aspirin and NSAIDs appear widely protective against colorectal cancer, but not for everyone.
- Health & Medicine
For heart repair, call RNA
Mice regrow muscle cells after heart attacks if injected with molecules mimicking RNA involved in cell growth.
- Health & Medicine
Prospective Crohn’s drug yields high rate of remission
An experimental Crohn’s disease drug triggers a high remission rate in patients.
- Paleontology
Fearsome croc called the Carolina Butcher once ruled the north
Early ancestors of crocodiles, not dinosaurs, may have been northern Pangaea’s top predator 230 million years ago, according to a new fossil find.
- Astronomy
Space dust is tough enough to survive supernova aftermath
Dust still lingers in the remnants of supernova that exploded 10,000 years ago, affirming that the explosions filled the early universe with dust.
- Planetary Science
Martian aurora, high-altitude dust clouds surprise scientists
Surprise auroras and mystery dust clouds dance in the Martian atmosphere, NASA’s newest Mars orbiter discovers.
- Anthropology
Cache of eagle claws points to Neandertal jewelry-making
Eagle-claw jewelry points to Neandertals’ symbolic behavior before contact with humans, researchers argue.
- Climate
Winter storms 24 times as deadly as estimated
By ignoring car and plane crashes related to bad weather, U.S. tallies of winter storm deadliness severely underestimate hazard.
- Chemistry
Air pollution molecules make key immune protein go haywire
Reactive molecules in air pollution derail immune responses in the lung and can trigger life-long asthma.
- Chemistry
Idea for new battery material isn’t nuts
Baking foam peanuts at high heat can form wee structures that lure lithium ions and could make for cheaper, more powerful batteries.
- Genetics
Iceland lays bare its genomes
A detailed genetic portrait of the Icelandic population is helping scientists to identify the genetic underpinnings of disease.
- Materials Science
Suds turn silver nanoparticles in clothes into duds
Bleach-containing detergents destroy antibacterial silver nanoparticles that coat clothes.
- Astronomy
The art of astronomy
Astronomer Zoltan Levay uses the Hubble Space Telescope to create stunning images of cosmic landscapes.
- Humans
History of the United Kingdom revealed in its genes
A genetics study finds subtle differences that reveal secrets about the history and ancestry of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Health & Medicine
Early birth control study probed effectiveness of pill
A 1960s study probed birth control pills’ effectiveness for women. Researchers are still trying to make a pill for men.
- Animals
‘The Last Unicorn’ takes readers on quest to see a saola
Nature writer William deBuys introduces readers to the enigmatic saola of Southeast Asia.
