All Stories by Stephen Ornes
- Brain
Choosing shocks over contemplation
Some people think being alone is unpleasant. In one new study, some found choosing to get a painful shock helped them endure being alone for 15 minutes.
- Health & Medicine
Young blood: The elixir of youth?
Old mice show improved memory when blood from young mice circulated through their brains, a new study finds. Other studies suggest one ingredient in that young blood might be all it takes to deliver benefits.
- Health & Medicine
Sunlight makes pleasure chemical in the body
A day on the beach might deliver more than a tan (or sunburn). It may also release potent brain chemicals that leave people with a pleasurable feeling.
- Archaeology
Neandertal ancestor?
Fossils found in a Spanish cave have features that are a combination of Neandertals and other species. The mix suggests Neandertal roots go back even farther than scientists had suspected.
- Physics
Very-sub-zero water
Using lasers, scientists measured the temperature of water droplets that remained liquid even when super-cold.
- Microbes
How a germ killer could backfire
A common ingredient in toothpaste and hand sanitizers kills germs on contact. But it also can kill the helpful germs that make water safer.
- Fossils
Hot-blooded dinos? Try lukewarm
New study finds these reptiles may have had an internal furnace that sort of resembled some sharks. It appeared to run neither hot nor cold.
- Physics
Hazing: How to hide in nearly plain sight
A new system takes advantage of a translucent fog of particles to hide otherwise obvious objects.
- Animals
Salted butterflies
The salt used on winter ice can alter the bodies of summer's butterflies. Males develop larger muscles and females get bigger brains.
- Brain
Hunger’s little helpers
Astrocytes were thought to be nothing more than support cells for neighboring nerve cells. A new study suggests they do much more. These brain cells may help control appetite, too.
- Planets
First mega-Earth found
Astronomers are puzzled by Kepler-10c. This exoplanet is rocky like Earth — but as massive as Neptune. And that challenges their accepted ideas about how planets form.
- Environment
Native ‘snot’
The ‘rock snot’ choking rivers may be native algae. Experts blame its sudden and dramatic emergence on changes in Earth’s atmosphere, soils and climate.
