Life
- Life
Kitchen sponges are bacteria’s dream home
Sponges are favorite spots for bacteria, partly because of the mixed-housing environment that the cleaner-uppers offer microbes.
- Chemistry
Scientists Say: Inorganic
Inorganic molecules include salts, minerals and other compounds that lack organics’ carbon-hydrogen bonds.
- Animals
Surprise! Sixteen tiny wasp species found masquerading as one
Scientists used new and old tools to overturn 160-year-old ideas about this wasp. They show you can’t tell a wasp by its looks.
- Animals
One of the earliest meat-eating mammals was saber-toothed
Millions of years before the evolution of saber-toothed cats, a newly discovered "hypercarnivore" prowled the forests of what is now San Diego.
- Animals
Mosquitoes see red, which may be why they find us so appealing
Mosquitoes not only see colors, but also prefer certain ones, such as the hues of human skin.
- Life
Robots made of cells blur the line between creature and machine
Scientists are using living cells and tissue as building blocks to make robots. These new machines challenge ideas about robots and life itself.
- Health & Medicine
Sickle-cell gene therapies offer hope — and challenges
Doctor Erica Esrick discusses existing treatments and an ongoing clinical trial for a gene therapy to treat sickle cell disease.
- Genetics
Explainer: What is sickle cell disease?
Gene mutations can alter an individual’s hemoglobin in ways that curl their blood cells. This can cause painful sickle cell disease.
- Animals
The end of the dinosaurs appears to have come in springtime
Fish fossils from North Dakota suggest when the Chicxulub asteroid devastated Earth, triggering the mass extinction of dinosaurs and other species.
- Health & Medicine
Explainer: The body’s immune system
An army of cells — and their protein arsenal — work to keep us safe. Several squads of special forces possess unique superpowers to disable or kill intruders.
- Brain
Is the sky really blue? It depends on what language you speak
English speakers talk about color a lot but rarely about smell. Researchers are learning how those who speak other languages sense the world and why differences arise.
- Brain
Teen inventors say: There’s got to be a better way
Finalists in the 2022 Regeneron Science Talent Search are revamping prostheses, earthquake safety systems and air travel.
