From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
- Chemistry
Explainer: How photosynthesis works
Plants can take in light, water and carbon dioxide, and send out sugar and oxygen. Here’s how it works.
- Animals
One hummingbird survives cold nights by nearly freezing stiff
To survive a freezing night, hummingbirds in the Andes mountains go very still, slow their heart rate and let their body temperature plummet.
- Genetics
Gene editing can alter body fat and may fight diabetes
Researchers have long dreamed of using brown fat to fight obesity and diabetes. Work in animals shows they’re closing in on achieving that dream.
- Climate
The faster trees grow, the younger they die
As climate change spurs forest tree growth, it also shortens trees’ lives. That results in a quicker release of climate-warming carbon back into the atmosphere.
- Animals
Whales get a second life as deep-sea buffets
When a whale dies and sinks to the seafloor, it becomes a feast for hundreds of different types of creatures.
- Humans
You should guess answers to your homework before searching online
Over a span of 11 years, an increasing share of students performed more poorly on exams than on their homework. Online homework help may explain why.
- Animals
Let’s learn about bones
Bones hold us up and help us fight gravity with every step. They also make blood cells, hormones and more.
- Brain
Confidence can make you miss important information
Being confident can feed a confirmation bias in us, new studies show. This bias can make your brain ignore other people’s ideas and any conflicting information.
- Health & Medicine
A glowing new way to measure antibodies
Researchers invent a way to detect and measure antibodies with glowing proteins. Antibodies can mark exposure to various diseases.
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A dirty and growing problem: Too few toilets
As the famous book says, everybody poops. That’s 7.8 billion people, worldwide. For the 2.4 billion with no toilet, the process can be complicated.
- Animals
Whale blowholes don’t keep out seawater
Whales’ blowholes aren’t as protective as scientists had thought. They not only can let in water but also pollutants.
- Life
If bacteria stick together, they can survive for years in space
Tiny clumps of bacteria can survive at least three years in outer space. This raises the prospect of interplanetary travel by microbial life.
