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Earth

Dino double whammy

Most scientists think an asteroid helped kill off the dinosaurs. But new calculations suggest that asteroid might have gotten some help from a long series of volcanic eruptions in what is now India.

Climate

Thunderstorms can generate powerful radiation

Thunderstorms don’t just hurl lightning bolts. Some churn out high-energy radiation that can be seen by spacecraft. This radiation offers scientists a glimpse of the inner workings of thunderclouds.

Animals

Electric eels get on their prey’s nerves

Electric eels wield remote control over their prey’s muscle movements. They do this by zapping their nervous system. Experiments suggest the creatures use these paralyzing bursts of energy to hunt, too.

Chemistry

Asteroid impacts may have sparked life on Earth

The energy produced by comets and asteroids that collide with Earth may have been strong enough to start life.

Physics

Picture This: Christmas from space

Satellite images show that cities brighten during holidays. Charting such changes can point to factors affecting energy use and contributing to global warming.

Animals

A nervy strategy for transplants

Adjusting the electric charges in cells helped a transplanted eye reach out to its new host. The eye grew cells, which help transmit signals to other cells.

Earth

Clouds may be dining cars for some germs

Scientists had known microbes could hitchhike across and between continents on clouds. New research now shows that some germs don’t just treat clouds as a high flying jet, but also as a cafeteria.

Animals

Spidey sense: Eight-legged pollution monitors

Spiders that prey on aquatic insects can serve as sentinels that naturally monitor banned chemicals that still pollute many rivers across the United States.

Animals

Virus blamed in starfish die-off

A virus may explains the deaths of millions of starfish along the Pacific Coast of North America. The deaths affect 20 species. Some of the stricken animals appear to melt into puddles of slime.

Environment

Soot fouls subway stations — and maybe lungs

Soot levels in stations for New York City’s electric subway trains exceed the levels outdoors, a new study finds. The underground source of this black carbon: maintenance trains that share the tracks with subway trains. Breathing soot can aggravate asthma and other lung disease.