Life
- Microbes
Genes point to how some bacteria can gobble up electricity
A new study shows how some microbes absorb and release electrons — a trait that may point to new fuels or ways to store energy.
- Ecosystems
Secret forest fungi partner with plants — and help the climate
Forest fungi are far more than mere mushrooms. They explore. They move nutrients and messages between plants. They can even help fight climate change.
- Animals
Meat-eating bees have something in common with vultures
Flesh-eating bees have acid-producing gut bacteria, much as vultures do. It lets them safely snack on rotting meat.
- Earth
Analyze This: Nutrients from sewage may harm coastal ecosystems
A new model suggests that 58 percent of coral reefs and 88 percent of seagrass beds are exposed to excess nitrogen from wastewater.
- Space
Let’s learn about the hunt for alien life
Finding any extraterrestrials, from advanced alien civilizations to simple microbes, would be an unmatched discovery.
- Archaeology
Vikings were in North America 1,000 years ago
Wooden objects provide the most precise dating yet for a Viking settlement on the coast of Newfoundland in Canada.
- Life
Scientists Say: Experiment
An experiment is a set of procedures to learn about the world — and an important part of the scientific process.
- Animals
Explainer: The age of dinosaurs
Take a trip back to the Mesozoic Era to explore how geologic events, ecosystems and evolution were connected during the so-called age of dinosaurs.
- Fossils
Fossils point to earliest dinosaurs that lived in herds
A fossilized family gathering of long-necked Mussaurus from 193 million years ago is the earliest evidence yet of herd behavior in dinos.
- Humans
Genetics show humans likely trace back to Africa
Our history began looking ever more complex once geneticists revealed our ancestors picked up new DNA as they traveled across time and continents.
- Humans
The ultimate genealogical search hunts for our earliest ancestors
The complex search to identify humans’ most distant cousins is long, complex and far from straightforward. It’s also far from over.
- Animals
Baleen whales eat — and poop — a lot more than we thought
The amount of food that some whales eat and then poop out suggests these animals have a powerful influence over ocean ecosystems.
