All Stories
- Animals
Woodpecker brains host protein linked with human brain damage
Woodpeckers peck with a force great enough to give people concussions. Now a study shows that birds, too, may suffer some brain damage.
- Health & Medicine
Explainer: What is a concussion?
A concussion is a severe type of head injury that can damage a brain for weeks to years — perhaps even a lifetime.
- Brain
Unlike adults, teens don’t perform better when the stakes are high
Adults tend to do better on tasks that have bigger rewards. Not teens. This difference might have to do with the rewiring of the brain during adolescence, new data suggest.
- Animals
Rising carbon dioxide could leave tiny lake dwellers defenseless
Rising carbon dioxide in freshwater lakes may change how predators and prey interact.
- Chemistry
Olympic ski racers use chemistry to enhance their performance
The chemistry of ski wax plays an important role in whether a skier wins or loses. They need a wax that helps them slip speedily downhill yet grip well uphill.
- Chemistry
Chemists look to mine silver from laundry wastewater
Recovering silver from wastewater could prevent the metal from ending up in lakes, rivers and the ocean, where it could poison wildlife.
- Computing
Scientists Say: Ampere
An ampere is a unit of electric current. It’s a base unit, meaning it’s one on which all electrical calculations are based.
- Climate
Climate change threatens future Winter Olympics
Higher temperatures, less snow mean many former Winter Olympics sites soon will no longer qualify to host future games, concludes a new analysis.
- Physics
This hydropower harnesses energy one water drop at a time
A single drop of water sliding across a surface can light up 15 LEDs. This charging by friction is due to what’s known as the triboelectric effect.
- Animals
Blooms on ‘chocolate’ tree are crazy-hard to pollinate
The cacao trees must be pollinated or those seeds that give us chocolate will never form. The rub: The trees’ flowers challenge all but some of the tiniest pollen-moving insects.
- Chemistry
Increasingly, chocolate-makers turn to science
Chocolate is delicious and may even have health benefits. To make sure there’s enough to go around, scientists are growing heartier cacao trees.
- Agriculture
How to grow a cacao tree in a hurry
Chocolate is made from the pods of the cacao tree. To reproduce this plant quickly for research, scientists use clones.
