Life
- Animals
Picture this: Too many walruses
A giant herd of walruses have hauled out onto a beach in Alaska. They don’t belong there, but with no ice nearby, they have taken to land.
- Tech
Repelling germs with ‘sharkskin’
A biotechnology company has found a way to repel superbugs without toxic chemicals. It mimics the texture of a shark’s skin.
- Animals
Rare as a rhino
Most species are rare. Some have always been rare. A problem develops when people are responsible for accelerating a species’ rarity to the point that extinction threatens.
- Fossils
Early dino-era start for modern mammals
Fossils of an extinct group of rodent-sized mammals suggest they were related to modern mammals. These ancient remains push back the origin of mammals by many millions of years.
- Microbes
Recycling the dead
When things die, nature breaks them down through a process we know as rot. Without it, none of us would be here. Now, scientists are trying to better understand it so that they can use rot — preserving its role in feeding all living things.
- Brain
Eating disorders: The brain’s foul trickery
Experts on eating disorders are probing why sometimes deadly chemical changes can distort how much the brain says we need to eat.
- Brain
Your sleeping brain is listening
Most people think that sleep is when the brain turns off to rest. But a new study finds that even as people get their zzz’s, their brains remain alert. At least they stay alert enough to sort information as though they were awake.
- Animals
Sharks’ super sniffers at risk
Rising ocean acidity could rob sharks of their ability to sniff out dinner, marine biologists find.
- Fossils
Biggest dino ever?
This plant-eater would have towered over even a T. rex. A truly huge brute, Dreadnoughtus means ‘fear nothing.’
- Health & Medicine
You can be too thin
Eating disorders aren’t about vanity. They are mental illnesses that can prove deadly.
- Health & Medicine
The media’s dangerous influence on body image
A study found how powerful TV and ad messages can be in distorting the attitudes about body image among young girls in Fiji.
- Animals
Chef puts eco-bullies on the menu
Some immigrant species can become a nuisance, eating up or displacing the natives. Often people find little incentive to catch and remove the newcomers — unless they find them too yummy to pass up.
