Life
- Animals
Male peacocks twerk it to bring in the hens
Scientists recorded peacocks with high-speed video cameras to learn the basic mechanics behind the shows they put on for peahens.
- Environment
Common water pollutants hurt freshwater organisms
The germ killers we use and the drugs we take don’t just disappear. They can end up in the environment. There they can harm aquatic organisms, three teens showed.
- Animals
Snakes go dark to soak in the sun
Snakes are paler in the South and darker in the North. The darker species absorb heat more quickly, a teen showed.
- Brain
Dragons sleep like mammals and birds
Lizards seem to alternate between two sleep states, just as mammals and birds do. This finding could change our understanding of how sleep evolved.
- Animals
Scientists Say: Copepod
Copepods are tiny crustaceans. They eat phytoplankton and float in the water column, although some live in freshwater and on the sea floor.
- Brain
A ‘cocktail’ in the brain can trigger sleep
A new study finds that a ‘cocktail’ of chemicals in the brain can directly cause mice to fall asleep or waken.
- Brain
Eyes offer new window into Alzheimer’s disease
The eye’s retina is distinctly different in people with Alzheimer’s disease compared to those with no signs of the malady, two teens now report finding. It could lead to earlier diagnosis of the brain disease.
- Brain
Left brain stands guard during sleepovers
Part of the left half of the brain remains on alert while the rest of the brain and body snooze.
- Animals
What medicine can learn from squid teeth
Scientists have identified what makes a squid's sucker teeth so strong. The findings may one day prove useful in medicine.
- Life
Scientists Say: Strain
These are organisms that belong to the same species, but have definable differences.
- Animals
Insects can patch their broken ‘bones’
When insects suffer wounds, they can mend their ‘skeleton’ with a patch on the inside. This makes the leg strong again, new data show.
- Fossils
Baby titanosaur was a mini version of its parents
Fossils show that baby titanosaurs looked like mom and dad. They may have been active and independent from a young age.
