Science Quickly

Go to the (White) Light

10 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

An energy-efficient alternative to LEDs has greater focusing power, for microscopes and spotlights. Christopher Intagliata reports.  Learn more about...

Bleached Coral Busts Fish Learning

09 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Damselfish had trouble sniffing out survival clues by their fellows in damaged coral. Jason Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m...

Bigger Glasses Rack Up More Wine Sales

08 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Serving wine in larger glasses boosted sales 10 percent in an English bar, possibly because customers think they're imbibing less per glass. Christoph...

Shy Fish Prefer to Follow Other Shy Fish

03 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Shy sticklebacks were more likely to emerge from under cover when an equally wary fellow was already out there, rather than when a bold individual was...

From Wolf to Woof Twice

02 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Dogs may have been domesticated from wolves twice, first in Europe, and again in Asia. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choice...

Extreme Life-Forms Could Complicate Carbon Sequestration

31 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers say carbon storage sites should be tested for microbial life, which could potentially convert CO2 to methane—a more potent greenhouse ga...

Knee Sounds Give Docs a Leg Up

25 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

A wearable device records the sounds of knees cracking, which could reveal clues about the condition of the joint. Christopher Intagliata reports. Lea...

Candidates Tend to Not Dodge Questions

24 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In an analysis of 14 presidential debate transcripts, two thirds of accusations of question-dodging had no merit. Christopher Intagliata reports. Lear...

Oldest Chinese Beer Brewery Found

23 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Remnants of a beer-making operation some 5,000 years old have been found in northern China.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/...

Giant Tsunami Remnants Spotted on Mars

20 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Evidence indicates that waves as tall as skyscrapers and thousands of kilometers wide once washed over the Red Planet.   Learn more about your ad cho...

Red Birds Carry On Colorful Chemistry

19 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Many red-colored birds have to convert yellow pigments in their food into the red pigments that make their feathers and beaks so brilliant.   Learn...

Alliance of Bacterial Strains Disables Antibiotics

18 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Two different antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains have a protective relationship in which each disables a different antibiotic, allowing both to thri...

Wanted: Gravitational Constant's True Value

17 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Scientists from numerous disciplines will brainstorm new strategies for measuring "Big G" in July.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphon...

Saharan Dust Brings Bacterial Blooms to the Caribbean

16 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Dust clouds from the Sahara reach the Caribbean—and fertilize waters there when they arrive. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your a...

Microbe Breaks the Powerhouse Rules

12 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

A single-celled organism discovered in chinchilla droppings is the only known eukaryotic organism that lacks mitochondria-like organelles. Christopher...

Everything There Is

11 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Caltech theoretical physicist Sean M. Carroll talks about the necessary connections among the various ways we have of describing the universe.   Lear...

Farm Fields Release Carbon Mist during Rainstorms

10 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Raindrops eject carbon-based blobs of soil material from wet fields, creating a mist of organic compounds above the soil. Christopher Intagliata repor...

Flying Boats Soar over the Hudson

08 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Hydrofoiling boats competing in the America's Cup World Series came to New York City to show off the cutting edge of sailing technology.   Learn mor...

Feed Additive Squelches Ruminants' Methane Belches

05 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

A chemical compound can cut a cow's methane emissions by 30 percent—and help the animal get more energy from its food. Christopher Intagliata report...

Male Lemurs Are Masters of Musk

04 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Lemurs sometimes mix their smelly secretions to produce a bouquet of stank—which may boost the perfume’s staying power. Karen Hopkin reports. Lear...

Married Couples Pack On More Pounds

03 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

A study links single living to a thinner waistline and lower BMI, compared with co-habitating couples. Erika Beras reports. Learn more about your ad c...

Photos Tagged as Art Linked to Rising Property Prices

02 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers found that neighborhoods with a higher proportion of Flickr photos tagged "art" saw a higher spike in property prices. Christopher Intagli...

Miley Cyrus and Macaroni Combo Enables Brain-Based ID

28 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

An individual's unique brain response to images of a celebrity and a food could be used to create an ID procedure at high-security sites.     Lear...

Traces of Pharmaceuticals Dwell in Wastewater-Grown Veggies

27 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Volunteers who ate veggies grown in wastewater had higher (but still safe) levels of an epilepsy drug in their urine, compared with subjects who ate f...

This Plant Bleeds Nectar to Attract Help

26 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

When a species of nightshade is injured by hungry beetles, it produces sugary nectar at the wound site. The nectar attracts ants that then keep the be...

Climbing Bears Help Plants Keep Cool

25 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Mountain-climbing bears transport cherry tree seeds, internally at first, to cooler, higher altitudes where the trees can survive as temperatures rise...

Lower Your Voice Pitch to Persuade

22 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Study volunteers whose voices deepened during a group debate tended to be more influential and convincing. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more ...

This Primate's Calls Obey a Linguistic Law

21 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The vocalizations of the gelada, a baboon relative, appear to follow a linguistic rule called Menzerath's law. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn m...

Woodpecker Head Bangs Communicate Info

20 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Woodpeckers that listen to others of their kind drum into trees alter their behavior based on what they hear.      Learn more about your ad choic...

Gambling Gave Science Some Lucky Breaks

19 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The development of statistics, probability theory, game theory and chaos theory owes a lot to people trying to figure out various games of chance.   ...

Microbots Get the Lead Out--of Wastewater

18 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Millions of tiny graphene robots can propel themselves through wastewater and scavenge heavy metals. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about ...

Heat ID'd as Subtle Cause of Rockfalls

15 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Rockfalls without an obvious cause (like an earthquake or expanding ice) may be due to hot daily air temperatures expanding small cracks in cliff face...

Bearcats Naturally Pass the Popcorn

14 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers have uncovered the chemistry that makes the urine of bearcats smell like freshly cooked popcorn.   Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...

Transforming Stem Cells into Diabetes Beaters

13 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Pancreatic type beta cells produced from stem cells can sense glucose, release insulin and treat a mouse model of diabetes. Christopher Intagliata rep...

Find Shows Widespread Literacy 2,600 Years Ago in Judah

12 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Mundane notes about daily life on 16 ceramic shards written about 600 B.C. at an ancient military fortress in the Negev Desert reveal that literacy h...

Frogs Signal Visually in Noisy Environments

11 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The Brazilian torrent frog has the most sophisticated visual communications system yet documented for a frog species.   Learn more about your ad ch...

Choir Practice Could Lower Stress in Cancer Patients

07 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

A cancer center in the U.K. found that patients had significantly lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol after harmonizing for an hour. Christoph...

Crater Bottoms Could Be Cradles of Martian Life

06 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Four billion years ago asteroids and comets could have melted the Martian cryosphere, and started up hydrothermal springs—a potential hotspot for a...

Wolves Have Local Howl Accents

05 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Understanding the regional vocal patterns of various canid species sheds light on animal communication and could help ranchers broadcast "keep away" m...

Bird Combines Calls in Specific Order

04 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The Japanese great tit combines two calls in a specific order and does not respond to a recording of the calls combined in reverse order, apparently d...

Cellular Circuit Computes with DNA

01 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers have created what they call the first "programming language" for cells, which compiles code into a genetic circuit. Christopher Intagliata...

Lasers Could Hide Earth from Prying Aliens

31 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

We could use laser light to mask our transits across the sun and thus hide Earth from any intelligent aliens looking for planets to invade   Learn mo...

Twin Birth Proposed for Colliding Black Holes That Produced Gravitational Waves

30 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

A flash of light shortly after the detection of gravitational waves could mean that that historic event has an added wrinkle—the black holes that co...

City Birds Outwit Country Counterparts

29 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Birds that live in urban environments are brasher than rural birds, solve problems better and even have more robust immune systems. Christopher Intagl...

Quasar Winds Clock In at a Fifth of Light Speed

28 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Quasars can shape the evolution of their galaxies, by blasting 135-million-mph winds. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choice...

The Fastball Gets Its Scientific Due in a New Documentary

25 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The new movie Fastball dissects the pitch from the perspective of pitchers, hitters, umpires—and scientists, who talk about everything from the phys...

Garbage Pickings Get Storks to Stop Migrating

23 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Some white storks have stopped migrating from Europe to sub-Saharan Africa in the winter, because of the availability of food in landfills.   Learn...

Smart Glass Goes from Clear to Cloudy in a Jolt

22 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers say their prototype is cheaper and easier to make than other smart glass, and since it's flexible and foldable, could be used for camoufla...

Cuba–U.S. Thaw Should Ease Scientific Collaborations

21 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology researcher Eduardo Inigo-Elias, a veteran of efforts to work with Cuban researchers, talks about what improved rela...

African Park Comeback Offers Ecological Optimism

18 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

A decade of modest financial investment has revitalized Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park, explains biologist Sean B. Carroll in his new book The S...

Bring a Musician to Untangle Cocktail Party Din

17 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Musicians are better at separating out one meaningful audio stream from a combination, a skill that could help decipher a single conversation in a cro...

Our Noise Bothers Overlooked Seafloor Critters

15 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Creatures that live on the seafloor play vital roles in marine ecosystems, but human-made noise can alter their behaviors.   Learn more about your ...

Eavesdrop on Echolocation to Count Bats

14 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers created a model that can accurately predict a cave's bat populations using audio alone. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about y...

Underground Eruptions Could Cause Quakes Months Later

11 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

When the Nyiragongo volcano erupted in January 2002, it set the geologic stage for earthquakes nine months later. Julia Rosen reports. Learn more abou...

Raw Stone Age Meals Got Tenderizing Treatment

10 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Pounding and slicing meat and vegetables would have saved our ancestors millions of tough chews a year—potentially explaining the evolution of small...

Fear of Spiders Makes Them Look Bigger

09 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Arachnophobic study subjects estimated the size of spiders as bigger than did people who do not fear the eight-legged beasties. Jason Goldman reports....

Pro Baseball Player Tech Avatars Could Be a Hit

08 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Smart Bat sensor captures swing data and reenacts the motion on a smartphone app. Larry Greenemeier reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m...

This Dragonfly Outmigrates Monarchs

07 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The dragonfly Pantala flavescens can travel 9,000 to 11,000 miles, and may interbreed across the globe. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more abo...

Gators Guard Birds That Nest Nearby

04 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Wading birds in the Everglades prefer to nest near resident gators for protection. And the arrangement appears to be mutually beneficial. Christopher ...

Space "Treasure Map" Guides E.T. Search

03 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

A pair of astrophysicists advise searchers of intelligent life to look in the narrow band of galactic sky from which any alien observers would see Ear...

Milgram's Conformity Experiment Revisited in Lab and on Stage

02 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

A conversation following a play about the famous Milgram experiments about conformity and authority included mention of a just-published new version o...

Bats Beat Ebola with Hypervigilant Immunity

29 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The immune systems in bats are in a continuous state of activation, which may explain why they can carry viruses like Ebola without harm. Christopher...

Cutting Carbon Pollution Could Save Health Care $

25 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Some 300,000 premature deaths could be avoided by 2030 if the U.S. abides by the ambitious Paris Climate Agreement, according to a new analysis. Chris...

Billion Sun–Bright Events Leave Radio Wave Clues

24 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

“Fast radio bursts” detected here on Earth last only a thousandth of a second, but are the result of a faraway source briefly shining a billion or...

Cyber Thieves Hold Hospital's Data for Ransom

23 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in California paid $17,000 to regain access to their patient digital information and other data held hostage. ...

Ball Really Looks Bigger to Better Hitters

22 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Jessica Witt of Colorado State University explains that how well you're performing affects your visual perception of the world around you, at the ann...

HPV Vaccine Needs to Reach Boys, Too

19 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Gypsyamber D’Souza of Johns Hopkins University discussed the rise in HPV-related oral cancer, its connection to oral sex and the risk for men at the...

Mantis Shrimp Shells May Inspire Next-Generation Computer Chips

18 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Mantis shrimp shells contain ultrathin polarizing materials, which could find use in optical computer chips. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn mor...

Opioid Epidemic Gets Treatment Prescription

17 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Wilson Compton, deputy director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, addressed ways to deal with the U.S. opioid epidemic at the annual meeting of...

Elephant Ivory DNA Reveals Poaching Hotspots

16 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Almost all the ivory in large stockpiles seized by law enforcement originates in just two locations in Africa, informing authorities about where to fo...

Gut Microbes Lessen Mice Malarial Malaise

12 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Mice with the right mix of microbes were spared the worst of a malaria infection, possibly via some sort of "booster effect" on the immune system. Chr...

Greenland's Meltwater May Fertilize Fjords with Phosphorus

11 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Greenland's glacial rivers may flush some 400,000 tons of phosphorus into ocean waters—on par with the Mississippi or the Amazon. Christopher Intagl...

Lizard Picks Best Color--to Stand against

10 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Aegean wall lizards are the first wild animals to be observed explicitly choosing the best background for their particular coloration to disappear int...

Giant Bird Driven Extinct by Egg-Eating Humans

09 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

About 47,000 years ago, newcomer humans to Australia helped to wipe out an enormous flightless bird by collecting and cooking its eggs.   Learn mor...

Climate Change Most Affects Nations That Didn't Produce It

08 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Developed nations that drive climate change incur relatively few of the costs whereas countries that produce few greenhouse gas emissions will be har...

Super Bowl Sunday's Food Needs Work

06 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

A public health advocate determined how much exercise is required to burn off various typical big game foods. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ...

Bear Gut Microbes Help Prep Hibernation

04 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Bears’ gut summer bacteria are more diverse and include species that tend to promote energy storage than are the bacteria that live in them during t...

Seed-Scattering Birds May Help Trees Cope with Climate Change

03 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

A new review paper emphasizes the crucial role birds play in helping trees colonize new habitats—especially in the face of a changing climate. Chris...

Plastic Pollution Perturbs Oyster Offspring

02 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Laboratory tests suggest that when the shellfish suck in tiny plastic particles, their reproductive success suffers. Christopher Intagliata reports. L...

Antioxidant Use Still Small Mixed Bag

01 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

At a Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health forum on diet and health, Walter Willett, chair of the school's nutrition department, talked about ben...

Sweet Song Gives Away New Bird Species

29 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The newly discovered Himalayan forest thrush looks a great deal like the alpine thrush, but its far silkier song stylings gave it away as a potential ...

Suicide Differences by Region Related to Gun Availability

28 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The presence of a gun increases the likelihood that someone in the home will die a violent death, particularly by suicide.   Learn more about your ad...

Musical Pitch Perception May Have Long Evolutionary History

27 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

A tiny primate, the marmoset, appears to process pitch perception the same way we do, implying that the ability evolved in a common ancestor at least ...

Quick Test Could Tell If a Patient Needs Antibiotics

26 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Antibiotics work against bacterial infections but are often prescribed to people with viral infections, which don't respond to the drugs. But a new ge...

Pluto Killer Thinks He Has New Ninth Planet

25 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Caltech astronomer Mike Brown, the driving force for demoting Pluto, now claims evidence for a massive, distant replacement ninth planet in our solar ...

Sharks Head Straight Home by Smell

21 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Sharks that could smell headed straight back home when taken a few miles away whereas some that had their senses of smell blocked took slower, more e...

Volcano Role in Dino Death Gets Mercury Boost

20 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers found a spike in mercury, which is produced by volcanoes, in ancient ocean sediments from southern France that span the time of the dinosa...

Healthful Diet Switch Helps Even Late in Life

19 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

At a Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health forum on diet and health, Walter Willett, chair of the school's nutrition department, said that adopti...

Better Gut Microbiome Census through Computing

18 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Sophisticated computational techniques make it possible to analyze gene samples from all the bacteria in the gut at once to take a census of the speci...

Sociable Chimps Get Richer Gut Microbiomes

15 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

When food is plentiful and chimps are more chummy, they harbor an increased number of different bacterial species in their bellies.   Learn more ab...

Mammoth Find Moves Humans in Arctic Back 10,000 Years

14 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The remains of a clearly butchered woolly mammoth in Siberia date to 45,000 years ago, 10 millennia earlier than when humans were thought to have cros...

City Swans May Tolerate Humans Due to Gene Variant

13 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

More members of an urban swan population that lets humans get near have a particular genetic variant than do a rural swan group that tends to take off...

Hippo Meat-Munching May Explain Their Anthrax Outbreaks

12 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Hippos eat meat more than had been thought, a practice that could explain their susceptibility to anthrax die-offs when they consume infected animals....

Powerball Lottery Winning Made Inevitable (If Not Easy)

11 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Some set of numbers will definitely be drawn in the $1.3-billion Powerball Lottery, so all you have to do is make sure you hold every possible combina...

Iceman Ötzi Died with a Bellyache

08 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers were able to determine the genome of stomach bacteria that infected the famous Iceman at the time of his death, in the process giving us c...

Allergies May Have Been Bequeathed by Neandertals

07 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Many non-African humans today have genes—which apparently made it into us via Neandertals—that ramp up resistance to pathogens, but bring on aller...

Needle Exchange Programs Now Get Fed Support

06 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

More than a quarter century after the federal funding ban on needle exchange programs went into effect, it has quietly been almost completely lifted. ...

Obama Notes Blocks of Gun Violence Research

05 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In his announcement today that he was taking executive action to require more gun sellers to be licensed and to do background checks on gun buyers, Pr...

Big Cats and People Live in Close Quarters in India

04 Jan 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The numbers of large carnivores, especially leopards, are increasing in private lands and lands outside the protected-area systems in India, bringing ...

Asphalt Roads Could De-Ice Themselves

31 Dec 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers engineered bitumen—the sticky black stuff in asphalt—to release its own salt, to battle the formation of ice. Christopher Intagliata r...