Category Archives: news
A 44-Million-Year-Old Hitchhiker
from ScienceNOW Daily News November 8, 2011 Talk about a ride gone wrong. A tiny mite climbed onto a spider’s back at least 44 million years ago, but the spider stumbled into a glob of sticky tree sap. That makes … Continue reading
In the News: Spoiler Alert
from American Scientist November-December 2011 Movie critics might do their readers a favor by slipping more plot spoilers into their reviews. Far from wrecking a story, revealing a surprise ending makes fiction more enjoyable. Also in this issue’s news roundup: … Continue reading
Laundry Lint Pollutes the World’s Oceans
from ScienceNOW Daily News October 21, 2011 There’s nothing subtle about dryer lint: Clean the fluffy, gray mat off the filter or risk a fire. Washer lint, however, is sneaky. Nearly 2000 polyester fibers can float away, unseen, from a … Continue reading
In the News: Agency Angst
from American Scientist September-October 2011 If it turns out that free will is an illusion, we’d only be losing something we never had. But believing in that loss makes a difference. Also in this issue’s news roundup: One day on … Continue reading
In the News: Peacock Mystique
from American Scientist July-August 2011 If peahens (Pavo cristatus) tally eyespots on their suitors’ tail feathers, they do a sloppy job. Also in this issue’s news roundup: Cave bears and ancient art, “six-winged” insects and more. Read more pdf
A Cheap Imitation Is Sometimes Best
from ScienceNOW Daily News June 21, 2011 The animal kingdom is full of fakes: tasty butterflies that look like toxic ones, harmless flies that look like bees, and spiders that look like ants, to name a few. It’s all a … Continue reading
Dying Generously
from American Scientist May-June 2011 Suicide is an evolutionary conundrum. Single-celled organisms regularly kill themselves in reaction to stresses they might have survived, but it’s not obvious why natural selection permits such volatile behavior. Read more pdf
In the News: Shivering in Europe
from American Scientist May-June 2011 Early humans lived in Europe for 700,000 long cold years before they mastered fire. Also in this issue’s news roundup: Grapes need to have more sex, methane monsoons on Titan, and more. Read more pdf
Bats Gorge During Exercise
from American Scientist March-April, 2011 Like marathoners nursing packets of sweet energy gel, foraging bats have to nourish their hard-working muscles on the go. But recent experiments reveal that flying bats can quickly refuel not only with sugary foods, but … Continue reading
In the News: Honeybee Cooties
from American Scientist March-April 2011 For bees and wasps, flowers may be as germy as a kindergarten sandbox. Also in this issue’s news roundup: The Vikings might have taken a Native American woman back to Iceland. Data collected in the … Continue reading