Humans
Cognitive scientist puts profanity in its place
Swearing provides unappreciated insights into human thought and language, a cognitive scientist argues in the new book What the F.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Animals
Tiny structures give a peacock spider its radiant rump
Peacock spiders use pigments and complex nanostructures to achieve bright dance costumes.
Notebook
Physics
Flaming fuel on water creates ‘blue whirl’ that burns clean
Scientists found a way to burn fuel on water that leaves little soot behind.
Features
-
Microbial matter comes out of the dark
Undiscovered bacteria challenge what scientists know about microbial life.
-
Fish escapes from marine farms raise concerns about wildlife
Farmed salmon, sea bass and other fish frequently escape from sea cages into the ocean. Will these runaways harm native wildlife?
More Stories from the September 17, 2016 issue
- Animals
Betty the crow may not have invented her hook-bending tool trick
Textbook example of Betty the crow’s proposed insight into toolmaking is now called into question by observations of similar hook bending by wild New Caledonian birds.
- Plants
Sneaky virus helps plants multiply, creating more hosts
Plant virus makes hosts more attractive to pollinators, ensuring future virus-susceptible plants.
- Neuroscience
Sleep deprivation hits some brain areas hard
Brain scan study reveals hodgepodge effects of sleep deprivation.
- Animals
Study ranks Greenland shark as longest-lived vertebrate
Radiocarbon in eye lenses suggests mysterious Greenland sharks might live for almost 400 years.
- Astronomy
Tabby’s star drama continues
Tabby’s star, already known for its bizarre flicking and fading, dimmed throughout the four years of Kepler’s primary mission.
- Health & Medicine
When it comes to antimicrobial resistance, watch out for wildlife
Focusing on antimicrobial resistance in hospitals and farms misses a big and not well understood part of the issue: wildlife.
- Genetics
Genetic diversity data offers medical benefits
Study of protein-producing DNA narrows down disease-causing genetic variants.
- Earth
Americas’ hookup not so ancient after all
Debate lingers over when the Isthmus of Panama formed and closed the seaway that separated North and South America millions of years ago.
- Archaeology
How to get Ötzi’s look
DNA from Ötzi the Iceman’s clothes and quiver traced to both domesticated and wild animals.
- Quantum Physics
Experiment confirms plan for quantum-coded messages
A new way to send secret quantum messages uses shorter keys.
- Animals
Bird nest riddle: Which shape came first?
Today’s simple cup-shaped songbird nests look as if they just had to have evolved before roofed nests. But that could be backward.
- Animals
Ways to beat heat have hidden costs for birds
Birds that look as if they’re coping with heat waves and climate change may actually be on a downward slide, with underappreciated disadvantages of panting and seeking shade.
- Astronomy
Signs of planet detected around sun’s nearest neighbor star
A planet roughly the size of Earth orbits within the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the sun.
- Animals
Warm-up benefit could explain morning birdsong
Even birds sing better after vocal warm-up, and an evolutionary arms race among rivals might have led to the intensity of the dawn chorus.
- Anthropology
Fossil autopsy claims Lucy fell from tree
A contested study suggests a famous fossil ancestor plunged to her death.
- Genetics
Genetic surgery is closer to reality
A molecular scalpel called CRISPR/Cas9 has made gene editing possible.
- Astronomy
Black hole app lets you blow up stars
NOVA’s Black Hole app for iPad is an addictive game that teaches lessons about gravity and astronomy while letting you hurl stars at one another.
- Animals
Dwarf lemurs don’t agree on sleep
Fat-tailed dwarf lemurs’ surprising hibernation-sleep doesn’t show up in ground-hibernating relatives.
- Life
California’s goby is actually two different fish
One fish, two fish: California’s tidewater goby is two species.
