Life
- Environment
Don’t flush your contact lenses
One in five people who wear contact lenses flush their used eyewear down the sink or toilet. That plastic pollutes the environment and can harm wildlife.
- Microbes
Bacteria are all around us — and that’s okay
Scientists may have identified less than one percent of all bacteria on Earth. But there’s a reason to keep up the hunt. These microbes could help us understand and protect our planet.
- Chemistry
Three take home chemistry Nobel for harnessing protein ‘evolution’
New ways to create customized proteins for use in biofuels and medicines earned three researchers the 2018 Nobel Prize in chemistry.
- Health & Medicine
Explainer: What are proteins?
In the body, proteins act as biochemical machines to carry out the work of cells.
- Animals
This penguin prey knows how to fight back
Scientists attached cameras to gentoo penguins off the Falkland Islands. The video revealed that their tiny prey can sometimes win in a fight.
- Health & Medicine
Immune targeting of cancers wins two a 2018 Nobel Prize
Doctors used to target cancers with a scalpel, toxic chemicals and radiation. Two scientists just won a Nobel Prize for coming up with a fourth tactic: turning on the immune system.
- Animals
Eating queen’s poop makes naked mole rats babysit her kids
Hormones in the poop of a naked mole rat queen turns other females into babysitters for her young.
- Oceans
New tools aim to better predict blooms of toxic algae
Scientists across the United States are developing programs that can predict when blooms of toxic algal may occur.
- Health & Medicine
Parasitic worms sicken people in the mainland United States
A worm native to Asia has sickened at least 12 people in eight continental U.S. states since 2011, a new report finds.
- Life
The mixed-up world of hybrid animals
When animals from related species mate, they may produce hybrid offspring. These animals can display a jumble of traits, such as colors, shapes or behaviors.
- Health & Medicine
Crickets for breakfast?
In a small trial, levels of beneficial gut bacteria rose in young adults who ate a breakfast that included crickets every day for two weeks.
- Brain
Football and hockey don’t necessarily doom players’ brains to serious damage
A broad look at the brains and behavior of retired pro football players and hockey players finds no signs of early dementia.
