Life
- Chemistry
Nom, nom! These bacteria eat antibiotics for lunch
Some soil microbes don’t just break down antibiotics, they can eat them too. Scientists have found one way they do it.
- Chemistry
Ouch! Lemons and other plants can cause a special sunburn
These are among a host of plants (many found in the refrigerator vegetable drawer) that produce chemicals that will kill skin cells when activated by sunlight. The result can be a serious, localized sunburn — sometimes with blistering.
- Earth
Surprise! Fire can help some forests keep more of their water
In California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, a century of fire suppression has led to forests with too many trees. But areas thinned by fire now show one benefit: more water.
- Animals
Deep-sea expedition led researchers to doomed octopus nursery
The ill-fated octopods may be a sign that a healthy population is hiding nearby.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Kakapo
This is a flightless parrot that lives in New Zealand. Unfortunately, there are only 154 of them left.
- Health & Medicine
Worms in the gut keep mice from getting plump on high-fat food
Parasites kept mice from gaining weight on a high-fat diet. But receiving transplants of immune cells from these wormy mice also halted weight gain in mice without worms.
- Microbes
Analyze This: These viruses are behemoths
Scientists keep finding larger and larger viruses. Just how big can these microbes get?
- Agriculture
Barnyard science: Check out this fowl research
New research shows how to store eggs, insulate homes with chicken feathers and slow fires with shells.
- Brain
Belly bacteria can shape mood and behavior
Our guts and our brains are in constant communication with the goal of managing a whole lot more than food digestion. Their conversations can affect stress, behaviors — even memory.
- Ecosystems
A robotic fish could help mangroves grow
Reforested mangroves don’t always grow well. To figure out why, two teens built a robotic mudskipper to measure the mud.
- Brain
Not all social media sites are equally likely to provoke anxiety
Most teens are on social media. Could these sites cause anxiety? A teen checks it out — and finds big differences.
- Health & Medicine
Bad food? New sensors will show with a glow
Sensors that glow around dangerous germs could be built into packaging to warn people of tainted foods.
