Ecosystems
Invasive species, climate change threaten Great Lakes
In The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, a journalist chronicles the lakes’ downward spiral and slow revival.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
Virtual reality has a motion sickness problem
Virtual reality games and experiences can make some people sick, and women are more susceptible.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Ecosystems
Mapping rainforest chemistry from the air reveals 36 types of forest
Aircraft analysis of tree chemicals reveals new biodiversity in the Peruvian rainforest.
Notebook
Agriculture
Fleets of drones could pollinate future crops
Chemist Eijiro Miyako turned a lab failure into a way to rethink artificial pollination.
Features
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Nudging people to make good choices can backfire
Steering people’s decisions with simple nudges, such as e-mail reminders or opt-out programs, can come with a downside.
More Stories from the March 18, 2017 issue
- Life
Malaria molecule makes blood extra-alluring to mosquitoes
Scientists have identified a molecule that draws mosquitoes to malaria-infected blood.
- Psychology
Physically abused kids learn to fail at social rules for success
What physically abused kids learn about rewards at home can lead to misbehavior elsewhere.
- Paleontology
Fossil shows that ancient reptile gave live birth
A new fossil shows that a prehistoric reptile may have given birth to live young, unlike its egg-laying descendants, birds and crocodiles.
- Genetics
Human gene editing therapies are OK in certain cases, panel advises
A panel of experts says clinical gene editing to correct and prevent human disease should move forward, but enhancements should not be allowed.
- Animals
Too many stinkbugs spoil the wine
Stinkbugs can ruin wine if enough are accidentally processed alive with the grapes. Three or fewer stinkbugs per grape cluster don’t have a noticeable effect on red wine.
- Ecosystems
Seagrasses boost ecosystem health by fighting bad bacteria
Seagrasses might reduce bacteria levels in ocean water.
- Planetary Science
Ceres harbors homegrown organic compounds
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has detected organic matter — the building blocks of life — on the dwarf planet Ceres, a new study suggests.
- Chemistry
Helium’s inertness defied by high-pressure compound
At pressures over a million atmospheres, helium reacts with sodium.
- Health & Medicine
Common fungus may raise asthma risk
The presence of a fungus in the infant gut can signal development of asthma by age 5.
- Microbes
Microbes survived inside giant cave crystals for up to 50,000 years
Microbes trapped in crystals in Mexico's Naica mine may represent some of the most distinct life-forms found in Earth so far.
- Life
New imaging technique catches DNA ‘blinking’ on
Dye-free imaging technique zooms in below 10-nanometer threshold, allowing new cellular views.
- Plants
Enzymes aid rice plants’ arsenic defenses
Rice plant roots have natural defenses against arsenic.
- Life
Howler monkeys may owe their color vision to leaf hue
Better color vision gives howler monkeys an edge at finding food.
- Earth
Newly identified continent Zealandia faces a battle for recognition
Geologists make the case for a new continent, dubbed Zealandia, found largely submerged beneath the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
- Animals
Coral reef crab named after Harry Potter characters
Bizarre rubble-dwelling crab named after critter collector and Harry Potter characters.
- Health & Medicine
DNA may offer rapid road to Zika vaccine
Researchers are pursuing multiple vaccine strategies for blocking Zika infection.
- Life
Origin of photosynthesis may go further back than estimates from 50 years ago
Analyzing ancient rocks has helped push back the date when photosynthetic organisms first emerged by nearly a billion years.
- Anthropology
‘Monkeytalk’ invites readers into the complex social world of monkeys
In Monkeytalk, a primatologist evaluates what’s known about monkeys’ complex social lives in the wild.
