Behavior
Lower Your Voice Pitch to Persuade
Study volunteers whose voices deepened during a group debate tended to be more influential and convincing. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Stories by Christopher Intagliata
Cognition
This Primate's Calls Obey a Linguistic Law
The vocalizations of the gelada, a baboon relative, appear to follow a linguistic rule called Menzerath's law. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Chemistry
Microbots Get the Lead Out--of Wastewater
Millions of tiny graphene robots can propel themselves through wastewater and scavenge heavy metals. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Biotech
Transforming Stem Cells into Diabetes Beaters
Pancreatic type beta cells produced from stem cells can sense glucose, release insulin and treat a mouse model of diabetes. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Medicine
Choir Practice Could Lower Stress in Cancer Patients
A cancer center in the U.K. found that patients had significantly lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol after harmonizing for an hour. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Space & Physics
Crater Bottoms Could Be Cradles of Martian Life
Four billion years ago asteroids and comets could have melted the Martian cryosphere, and started up hydrothermal springs—a potential hotspot for ancient microbial life. Christopher Intagliata reports...
Computing
Cellular Circuit Computes with DNA
Researchers have created what they call the first "programming language" for cells, which compiles code into a genetic circuit. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Biology
City Birds Outwit Country Counterparts
Birds that live in urban environments are brasher than rural birds, solve problems better and even have more robust immune systems. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Space & Physics
Quasar Winds Clock In at a Fifth of Light Speed
Quasars can shape the evolution of their galaxies, by blasting 135-million-mph winds. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Space & Physics
Smart Glass Goes from Clear to Cloudy in a Jolt
Researchers say their prototype is cheaper and easier to make than other smart glass, and since it's flexible and foldable, could be used for camouflage. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Cognition
Bring a Musician to Untangle Cocktail Party Din
Musicians are better at separating out one meaningful audio stream from a combination, a skill that could help decipher a single conversation in a crowd. Christopher Intagliata reports.
The Sciences
Eavesdrop on Echolocation to Count Bats
Researchers created a model that can accurately predict a cave's bat populations using audio alone. Christopher Intagliata reports.
The Sciences
Raw Stone Age Meals Got Tenderizing Treatment
Pounding and slicing meat and vegetables would have saved our ancestors millions of tough chews a year—potentially explaining the evolution of smaller jaws and teeth. Christopher Intagliata reports...
The Sciences
This Dragonfly Outmigrates Monarchs
The dragonfly Pantala flavescens can travel 9,000 to 11,000 miles, and may interbreed across the globe. Christopher Intagliata reports.
The Sciences
Gators Guard Birds That Nest Nearby
Wading birds in the Everglades prefer to nest near resident gators for protection. And the arrangement appears to be mutually beneficial. Christopher Intagliata reports.
The Sciences
Space "Treasure Map" Guides E.T. Search
A pair of astrophysicists advise searchers of intelligent life to look in the narrow band of galactic sky from which any alien observers would see Earth transit the sun—a method we use to detect exoplanets...
Health
Bats Beat Ebola with Hypervigilant Immunity
The immune systems in bats are in a continuous state of activation, which may explain why they can carry viruses like Ebola without harm. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Environment
Cutting Carbon Pollution Could Save Health Care $
Some 300,000 premature deaths could be avoided by 2030 if the U.S. abides by the ambitious Paris Climate Agreement, according to a new analysis. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Technology
Mantis Shrimp Shells May Inspire Next-Generation Computer Chips
Mantis shrimp shells contain ultrathin polarizing materials, which could find use in optical computer chips. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Health
Gut Microbes Lessen Mice Malarial Malaise
Mice with the right mix of microbes were spared the worst of a malaria infection, possibly via some sort of "booster effect" on the immune system. Christopher Intagliata reports...
