All Stories by Meghan Rosen
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AnimalsThe top side of an elephant’s trunk is surprisingly stretchy
Research on elephant trunks could inspire new artificial skins for soft robots.
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PlantsThis pitcher plant lures insects into underground deathtraps
Scientists didn’t expect the carnivorous, eggplant-shaped pitchers to be sturdy enough to grow embedded in the soil.
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AnimalsWhy these jumping toadlets get confused mid-flight
The tiny pumpkin toadlet tumbles when it jumps. Its ear canals may be too tiny to help the animal track its motion through the air.
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FossilsFossils offer new candidate for earliest life
Rock unearthed in Canada appears to hold fossils from seafloor microbes that would have lived around 4 billion years ago, when Earth was very young.
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TechSpeedy, springy robot ‘Salto’ catches some serious air
A lightweight robot nicknamed “Salto” can bound from floor to wall and back. Such fast and agile bots may someday aid in search-and-rescue operations.
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FossilsDinosaur tail preserved in amber — feathers and all
Scientists have found the tail of a dinosaur trapped in amber. It includes both feathers and identifiable bits of bone.
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FossilsSpeckled dino spurs debate about ancient animals’ colors
Structures found in fossil dinosaur skin may give clues to the creatures’ colors and how they lived. But not all scientists agree on how to interpret what they see.
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FossilsDino brain found ‘pickled’ in boggy swamp
Scientists claim to have identified the first fossil brain tissue from a dinosaur.
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Health & MedicineZika birth defects: Concerns spread from head to toe
Zika infections may trigger problems well beyond babies born with small heads and brains. Scientists have begun linking a range of head-to-toe health ails to the virus.
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LifeNobel awarded for unveiling how cells recycle their trash
Cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi has won the 2016 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine for discovering how cells take care of housekeeping.
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FossilsMini pterosaur from the age of flying giants
Not all pterosaurs flying the Cretaceous skies had a wingspan as wide as a school bus is long. Some, new fossils show, were smaller than modern eagles.
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Health & MedicineMeasles in the Americas: Going, going — gone!
The Americas have at last shed a major childhood scourge: measles. The viral infection used to kill hundreds of children each year. Now the hemisphere only sees cases spread by travelers.