All Stories by Stephen Ornes
- 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.
- Physics
Closing in on fusion energy
Scientists blasted a tiny capsule of hydrogen with laser beams, setting off a reaction that released more energy than in earlier experiments. Still, scientists remain a long way from creating a reaction that releases more energy than it needs to get started.
- Planets
New evidence of a wet Mars
Ten years in to its tour of Mars, the Opportunity rover finds another place on the Red Planet that once might have hosted water.
- Life
How to reset a cell
Scientists had reported they had figured out how to turn a specialized cell into any other type of cell the body may need. All it took was an acid bath. But now in July, big doubts have emerged about the quality of that work and whether the results will hold up.
- Physics
Building a mirror with light
Scientists proved that lasers can be used to harness materials into a reflective surface. Some scientists ask: Can a space mirror be far away?
- Brain
The weight of thought
Thinking heavy thoughts? Scientists have just put people on a balance and shown that the brain briefly gains blood — becoming a bit heavier — while concentrating.
- Animals
Dissecting the dog paddle
Scientists occasionally describe the dog paddle as a “trot,” but that’s not right. When dogs swim, their complicated leg motions look more like a frantic run.
- Space
Galaxies stash mass in clouds of gas
Astronomers may have finally figured out why predictions of the amount of matter in the universe don’t match observations. A huge amount may hide in the gas clouds that surround galaxies.
- Health & Medicine
Baseball: Keeping your head in the game
Head movements play an important role in successfully tracking lightning-fast incoming pitches.
- Space
Dusty remains from a dead star
A supernova first spotted in 1987 produced a huge cloud of space dust. Astronomers are now finding clues in it to how stars formed in the early universe.
- Animals
The bad-breath defense
The nicotine in tobacco that poisons some creatures can also act as a chemical defense — at least for some caterpillars. The bad breath it gives these insects repels natural predators, such as spiders.
