All Stories
- Health & Medicine
Sleep helps wounds heal faster
Getting enough sleep may be more important for helping wounds heal than getting good nutrition, a new study finds.
- Space
Scientists Say: Oort cloud
The very edge of our solar system is a crowded place. It’s full of ice and rocks in a bubble called the Oort cloud.
- Health & Medicine
E-cigarettes don’t need nicotine to be toxic
E-cigarettes without nicotine can still be toxic. New studies find the flavorings in e-cigarettes can harm cells of the human immune system.
- Health & Medicine
Robots may soon actively crawl through your gut
Doctors are working with engineers to develop robotic tools that can crawl through the body to deliver medicine or scout for signs of disease.
- Planets
Flared! How a planetary ‘neighbor’ may have been fried
Hoping for life on the planet our stellar neighbor Proxima Centauri? Don’t hold your breath. Its star may have sterilized its Earthlike exoplanet.
- Brain
Explainer: What are opioids?
Opioid drugs can kill pain, but they can also kill people. Here’s how.
- Brain
Teeny tiny hairs on brain cells could have big jobs
Brain cells have tiny antennae called cilia. But no one really seemed to know what they did. Now, scientists have shown they could play a role in obesity.
- Animals
Killer whale blows a raspberry, says ‘hello’
Orcas can mimic a range of sounds, including human speech — sort of.
- Brain
Scientists Say: Receptor
This molecule is a chemical messenger’s docking station. A receptor serves as a lock for cell activity.
- Math
Redrawing political boundaries may alter rates of violent crime
The way politicians draw boundaries for voting districts could affect not only who wins elections, but also where rates of violent crime may rise.
- Brain
Cool Jobs: Decoding how your brain ‘reads’
For some stroke victims and people with dyslexia, reading is nearly impossible. These researchers are working to understand why.
- Oceans
More than half the world’s ocean area is actively fished
Fleets harvest fish from 55 percent of the world’s total ocean area. Just a handful of countries play an outsized role fishing the open ocean, far from coasts.
