All Stories
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A plastic that heals itself
A scratch on a car can be expensive to fix. A teen helped to create a new smart material that can heal its own gashes.
- Animals
Finding out why birds are out of range
Sometimes people see large numbers of birds outside of their normal range. A student examined how to predict these excursions.
- Health & Medicine
Chickens spread latest deadly bird flu
A new bird flu virus threatens to spread outside of China. Experts traced the germ to markets where live chickens are sold.
- Earth
Corals dine on microplastics
Plastic in the ocean is a growing problem. New research finds that corals may eat tiny bits of plastic, prompting new concerns about the health of living reefs.
- Physics
Galaxy cluster creates ‘magnifying glass’ in space
A massive galaxy’s gravity is so strong that it bends light, creating a “lens” in space. This natural magnifying glass is giving astronomers a rare view of a supernova on the other side of the universe.
- Brain
Scientists Say: Cortical homunculus
If you draw a representation of your body as seen by your brain, it’s called a homunculus. On it, parts sensitive to touch or used for fine movement are large, while others are small.
- Health & Medicine
Replacement ‘plastic’ may be as risky as BPA
Bisphenol chemicals are the basic building block of many common plastics. Some governments have banned BPA from baby bottles. But mounting evidence suggests that its replacement, BPS, may be no safer.
- Space
Astronomers spy fastest speeding star
A few stars have been spotted departing our galaxy. The fastest of these might have been propelled by another exploding star, a new study finds.
- Animals
The social lives of whales
New tools are giving scientists an unprecedented glimpse into the behaviors of whales and dolphins. And these new data are upending long-held assumptions.
- Science & Society
Teens win top awards, as told on Twitter
Eureka! Lab live-tweeted the 2015 Intel Science Talent Search gala. Check out the finalists and winners.
- Earth
Ancient ocean linked to supercontinent’s breakup
The supercontinent Pangaea started breaking apart 200 million years ago. This may have been triggered by the shrinking of the Tethys Ocean, a new study finds.
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A teen and a trolley reveal society’s dark side
If a trolley continues on its track, five people will die. But you can flip a switch so that it only kills one. A student showed that how we decide what to do in this situation can reveal our hidden biases.
