Static electricity may help butterflies and moths gather pollen on the fly
Birds do it. Bees do it. Even butterflies and moths do it. As lepidopterans flutter their wings, friction with the…
Earth’s jet stream helps create the seeds of clouds
Scientists have sussed out a new source for the seeds of clouds. When the stratospheric layer of Earth’s atmosphere dips…
Stopping cachexia at its source could reverse wasting from cancer
People with advanced cancers often feel like their bodies are wasting away. That’s because of cachexia, a condition in which…
Earth keeps breaking global heat records
Earth now is hotter than it’s been at any time in recorded history. Average global temperatures shattered records on two…
Getting drugs into the brain is hard. Maybe a parasite can do the job
A mind-bending parasite may one day deliver drugs to the brain. Toxoplasma gondii is a single-celled parasite that famously makes…
Komodo dragon teeth get their strength from an iron coat
Komodo dragon teeth are ironclad. Literally. The serrated edges and tips of the reptiles’ razor-sharp chompers are lined with a…
A new algae-based menstrual pad could stop leaks
Menstruation can be messy and uncomfortable, often due to leaky pads, tampons and cups. A new alginate-based powder may solve…
Moonquakes are much more common than thought, Apollo data suggest
A new look at decades-old data from the Apollo missions has uncovered evidence of tens of thousands of previously unrecognized…
NASA’s Perseverance rover finds its first possible hint of ancient life on Mars
NASA’s Perseverance rover has bagged its first hint of ancient microbes on Mars. “We’re not able to say that this…
The North Star is much heavier than previously thought
The star marking true north is a good deal heavier than we thought. The North Star is 5.1 times as…
