Life
- Brain
Food smells better to sleepyheads
People who want to resist junk foods or overeating may want to make sure they get a good night’s rest. Being tired makes the scent of foods more appealing, a new study finds.
- Brain
Noticing mistakes boosts learning
People who pay attention to their mistakes are more likely to do better the next time, data show.
- Animals
Among mice, scratching is catching — as in contagious
Contagious itching spreads by sight, mouse-to-mouse. Scientists have now identified brain structures behind this phenomenon.
- Life
Fleets of flying robots could pollinate crops
Tiny flying drones use patches of sticky hair to capture pollen. One day they might join bees in pollinating crops.
- Plants
Scientists Say: Guttation
When water vapor can’t escape a plant, it might force its way out through a process called guttation.
- Ecosystems
Cities drive animals and plants to evolve
Biologists are finding that some species have used genetic changes to evolve — adapt — to the pollution and other stressors that they encounter in cities.
- Brain
Study links ADHD to five brain areas
A new international study shows that the brains of children with ADHD are different from those in people without this condition.
- Animals
Wild elephants sleep for only two hours at night
New measurements suggest that wild elephants may need less sleep than any other mammal.
- Plants
Scientists Say: Stomata
Plants have pores they open and close to let oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor in and out. These pores are called stomata.
- Fossils
Fossils 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.
- Brain
Anxious about math? Your brain may tackle simple problems differently
A study found more variable brain activity in people who get nervous about math problems than those who do not.
- Ecosystems
America’s duck lands: These ‘potholes’ are under threat
North America’s prairies are in trouble. Scientists race against the clock for clues about how to save the plants — and animals — that call it home.
