Animals
‘America’s Snake’ chronicles life and times of iconic timber rattlesnake
America’s Snake looks past timber rattlesnake’s fearsome reputation and delves into the fascinating biology of this iconic serpent.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Oceans
Here’s where 17,000 ocean research buoys ended up
A combined look at 35 years’ worth of ocean buoy movements reveals the currents that feed into ocean garbage patches.
Notebook
Life
Bacteria use cool trick to make ice
By reordering nearby water molecules, Pseudomonas syringae bacteria can make ice.
Features
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Bayesian reasoning implicated in some mental disorders
An 18th century math theory may offer new ways to understand schizophrenia, autism, anxiety and depression.
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Some animals ‘see’ the world through oddball eyes
Purple urchins, aka crawling eyeballs, are just one of several bizarre visual systems broadening scientists’ view of what makes an eye.
More Stories from the May 28, 2016 issue
- Quantum Physics
Information is physical, even in quantum systems, study suggests
A thermodynamic principle says that deleting information generates heat, and now, scientists say that goes for quantum systems, too.
- Health & Medicine
Clusters of cancer cells get around by moving single file
Clusters of cancer cells squeeze through thin blood vessels by aligning single file.
- Neuroscience
Left brain stands guard while sleeping away from home
Part of the left hemisphere stands sentry while the rest of the brain and body snooze.
- Paleontology
Baby titanosaur was parents’ Mini-Me
Babies of one species of titanosaur resembled mini-versions of full-grown adults, and probably acted like them, too.
- Life
Gene found that controls beak size in Darwin’s finches
A beak-size gene helped determine whether Darwin’s finches survived a drought.
- Archaeology
Bear bone rewrites human history in Ireland
A rediscovered bear bone puts humans in Ireland at least 12,600 years ago.
- Neuroscience
Words’ meanings mapped in the brain
Language isn’t just confined to one region of the brain: The meaning of words spark activity all over the cerebral cortex.
- Neuroscience
Ions may be in charge of when you sleep and wake
The recipe for sleep and wake may depend on ions.
- Animals
Dragons sleep like mammals and birds
Some lizards may sleep in the same way as mammals and birds, a new brain wave study finds.
- Particle Physics
Theorists perplexed by hints of unexpected new particle
Hints of a potential new particle at the LHC have scientists excited, and theoretical physicists are beginning to converge on explanations.
- Anthropology
Risky skull surgery done for ritual reasons 6,000 years ago
Some ancient skull surgeries hinged on ritual, not on medical treatment.
- Neuroscience
Evidence conflicts on iron’s role in Parkinson’s disease
Experiments yield conflicting results about whether vulnerable nerve cells have too much or too little iron.
- Climate
Fizzled 2014 El Niño fired up ongoing monster El Niño
The ongoing El Niño, one of the strongest on record, got a heat boost from a 2014 event that failed due to unfavorable winds.
- Astronomy
Nearby exoplanet trio new target in search for life
Three nearby exoplanets might be good spots to go looking for signs of alien life.
- Neuroscience
A breakdown product, not ketamine, may ease depression
Ketamine’s breakdown product, not the drug itself, eases depression, a mouse study suggests.
- Environment
When measuring lead in water, check the temperature
Lead contamination in drinking water can be much higher during summer than winter, new research suggests.
- Astronomy
Fast-moving star duo is heading out of the Milky Way
A pair of hyperfast stars hurtling through a remote region of the Milky Way might have been orphaned after a long-ago galactic collision, a new study suggests.
- Health & Medicine
Early work on human growth hormone paved way for synthetic versions
In 1966, researchers reported the complete chemical structure of human growth hormone. Today synthetic growth hormone is used to treat growth hormone deficiency.
- Health & Medicine
With easy e-cig access, teen vaping soars
The vast majority of U.S. states ban sales or distribution of e-cigarette products to minors. Still, it’s no sweat for teens to buy them online.
- Astronomy
Stephen Hawking finds the inner genius in ordinary people
Ordinary people wrestle with big questions in science and philosophy in Genius, a new television series hosted by Stephen Hawking.
- Math
Despite misuses, statistics still has solid foundation
In "The Seven Pillars of Statistics Wisdom," Stephen Stigler lays out the basic principles of statistics.
- Plants
Prions may help plants remember
A plant protein has passed lab tests for prionlike powers as molecular memory.
- Planetary Science
Tiny moon orbits dwarf planet
Hubble Space Telescope images from April 2015 show that the dwarf planet Makemake has a tiny moon.
