Blame pot munchies on nerve cells that normally nix appetite
Potheads can blame their munchies on nerve cells that are supposed to keep them feeling full, scientists report February 18 in Nature. “It’s like you’re driving your car downhill and you push your...
View ArticleOcean animals have bulked up since ancient eras
Marine animals have become much bigger over time, scientists report February 20 in Science. This finding lends evidence to Cope’s rule, which states that animals often evolve to be larger than their...
View ArticleBubonic plague was a serial visitor in European Middle Ages
Black Death may have been a repeat guest in medieval Europe, not a resident. Outbreaks of the plague that killed millions of people were triggered by spurts of warm weather a continent away,...
View ArticleAdditives that keep foods fresh may sour in the gut
Food additives may keep snacks fresh and tasty looking, but they can wreak havoc on the gut. These additives disrupt the intestine’s protection from bacteria and boost inflammation in mice, scientists...
View ArticleBeetle RNA makes crops a noxious meal
To keep pests at bay, try giving them a taste of their own genes. Hungry beetles spurn crops bearing the insects’ genetic material, scientists report in the Feb. 27 Science. When pests munch the...
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Tropical plant knows whose bill is in its flowers
Some plants crave a long bird bill. One tropical plant can even recognize which kind of hummingbird is slurping its nectar by the shape of its bill, scientists report online March 2 in the Proceedings...
View ArticlePlant growth patterns changing on much of Earth’s surface
Patterns in when and how much plants grow have changed markedly over the past 30 years, scientists report March 2 in Nature Climate Change. Researchers looked at satellite data of vegetation on the...
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Remote star clusters discovered on edge of Milky Way
Two clusters of stars have been found in a cloud hovering on the outskirts of the galaxy. Thousands of light-years from the spiral arms of the Milky Way, the clusters are the most distant ever...
View ArticleElectrical zap of cells shapes growing brains
A little electricity goes a long way in shaping the growing brain. The electric charge across cell membranes directs many aspects of brain development, scientists report March 11 in the Journal of...
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How arthropods got their legs
Newly discovered fossils fill a gap in scientists’ knowledge of how arthropods evolved their legs. The extinct creatures’ limblike flaps represent a stage before the two parts fused into the limbs...
View ArticleA brain chemical tells when to fight or flee
When it comes to fight or flight for brawling crickets, a chemical in the brain is in charge. Being roughed up in a skirmish can trigger nerve cells in Mediterranean field crickets (Gryllus...
View ArticleFor heart repair, call RNA
When people suffer a heart attack, they can’t regrow muscle cells that have died after being deprived of oxygen. But mice injected with small RNA molecules following heart attacks do regenerate...
View ArticleClean-up gene gone awry can cause Lou Gehrig’s disease
Mutations on a gene necessary for keeping cells clean can cause Lou Gehrig’s disease, scientists report online March 24 in Nature Neuroscience. The gene is one of many that have been connected to the...
View ArticleManganese turns honeybees into bumbling foragers
A heavy metal pollutant muddles honeybee behavior. Just a small dose of manganese boosts certain brain chemicals and makes bees inept foragers, researchers report online March 25 in Biology Letters....
View ArticleFor bats, simple traffic patterns limit collisions
Humans aren’t the only ones who follow traffic rules. Bats do it too, researchers report March 26 in PLOS Computational Biology. Scientists eavesdropped on echolocating Daubenton’s bats (Myotis...
View ArticleTampons: Not just for feminine hygiene
Tampons are cheap and highly absorbent, which makes them the perfect tool for testing rivers for pollution. Tampons submerged in contaminated water shine blue under ultraviolet light because of the...
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Early birth control study probed effectiveness of pill
Birth control pill found safe for 11,711 women — Women have used certain birth control pills for as long as 3½ years without developing new side effects, physicians from Planned...
View ArticlePink blobs of hope in cancer-targeting quest
An award-winning image illustrates the promise and challenge of delivering drugs to tumors inside the body. The pink blotches in this micrograph are fluorescent dye attached to biodegradable polymer...
View ArticleBrontosaurus deserves its name, after all
After spending more than a century dismissed as a mislabeled Apatosaurus, Brontosaurus may be getting its identity back. The long-necked dinosaur deserves a genus distinct from that of Apatosaurus, a...
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Designer drugs hit dangerous lows to bring new highs
The 18-year-old had stabbed himself four times in the neck and chest with a pair of scissors. Alone in his dorm room, he had suddenly felt trapped, convinced that the only way to get out was to kill...
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