All Stories

Brain

Why boys face higher autism risk

Boys develop autism at four times the rate seen in girls. Girls’ genes are better protected from the mutations linked to this brain disorder, data now suggest.

Fossils

Reviving dinosaurs

With the help of computers, researchers are getting a pretty good idea of how these ancient creatures moved, walked and ate.

Space

Star cluster rockets through space

It’s the first time astronomers have ever detected a cluster of stars moving collectively at such speed.

Animals

We are stardust

Everything making up Earth and what’s now living upon it — from trees and people to our pets and their fleas — owes their origins to the elements forged by ancient stars.

Animals

Flower loss doomed the mammoths

Woolly mammoths roamed the Arctic until about 10,000 years ago. Why they died out may trace to the vanishing of the mostly flowering plants on which they had been dining.

Environment

China exports pollution alongside goods

Many companies have moved the plants that make their products to developing countries, such as China. But the pollution linked to making those products can travel around the world.

Health & Medicine

When a nut allergy comes back

Eating small amounts of peanuts may help people overcome an allergy to the food. But for most people undergoing the treatment, its benefits vanish after they stop eating peanuts.

Animals

Birds versus windows

Buildings in the United States can be deadly obstacles to flying birds. A new study estimates that as many as 1 billion birds die every year after colliding with windows. And low buildings — not skyscrapers — account for most of those deaths.

Earth

Mining metals amidst seafloor animals

Miners may need to get their feet — and everything else — wet as they carefully seek out loads of copper and other valuable natural resources.