From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
- Life
Well-known wildflower turns out to be a secret meat-eater
Look closely at Triantha occidentalis, and you’ll see gluey hairs — and a trail of insect corpses on its stem.
- Brain
A 2021 Nobel goes for discovering how our body reads touch sensations
David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian found nerve-cell sensors for temperature, pain and pressure.
- Health & Medicine
Starting schools later leads to less tardiness, fewer ‘zombies’
Students attending schools with later start times feel more awake during the day and are less likely to oversleep and be late for class.
- Animals
Let’s learn about elephants
Check out five wild facts you may not know about a familiar animal: the elephant.
- Health & Medicine
Scientists Say: Tonsils
The tonsils are pads of tissue in the throat that are part of the body’s immune system.
- Tech
Synthetic trees could tap underground water in arid areas
They also could also help coastal residents mine fresh water from salty sources.
- Brain
Scientists Say: Haptic
Haptic is an adjective used to describe things related to our sense of touch.
- Health & Medicine
Cannabis may alter a teen’s developing brain
Marijuana use between ages 14 and 19 was linked to faster thinning of brain regions important in decision-making.
- Animals
Squirrels use parkour tricks to leap from branch to branch
Squirrels navigate through trees by making rapid calculations. They have to balance trade-offs between branch flexibility and the distance between tree limbs.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Plasma
In physics, plasma refers to one of the four states of matter. In medicine, plasma describes the part of blood that ferries cells, nutrients and more throughout the body.
- Animals
Here’s how sea otters stay warm without blubber or a large body
For the smallest mammal in the ocean, staying warm is tough. Now, scientists have figured out how the animals’ cells rise to the challenge.
- Animals
Abdominal fuzz makes bee bodies super slippery
Scientists find that tiny hairs on a honeybee’s abdomen reduce wear and tear as a bee’s outer skeletal parts rub against each other all day long.
