Neuroscience
Your Skull Shapes Your Hearing
The resonant properties of your skull can amplify some frequencies and dampen others—and, in some cases, affect your hearing. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Stories by Christopher Intagliata
Space & Physics
“Mars-quakes” Could Reveal How Mars Was Built
Rumblings on the Red Planet act like x-rays, allowing scientists to probe the hidden interior of Mars. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Computing
Artificial Intelligence Learns to Talk Back to Bigots
Algorithms are already used to remove online hate speech. Now scientists have taught an AI to respond—which they hope might spark more discourse. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Evolution
Tiny Worms Are Equipped to Battle Extreme Environments
Scientists found eight species of nematodes living in California’s harsh Mono Lake—quintupling the number of animals known to live there. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Climate Change
Corals Can Inherit Symbiotic Adaptations to Warming
Adult corals can reshuffle their symbiotic algae species to adapt to warming waters—and, it appears they can pass those adaptations on. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Conservation
Nature Docs Avoid Habitat Destruction
BBC and Netflix nature documentaries consistently shy away from showing viewers the true extent to which we’ve damaged the planet. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Evolution
Early Butchers Used Small Stone Scalpels
Homo erectus used hand axes to butcher elephants and other game. But a new study suggests they also used finer, more sophisticated blades. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Evolution
Eavesdropping Puts Anxious Squirrels at Ease
Squirrels constantly scan their surroundings for hawks, owls and other predators. But they also surveil for threats by eavesdropping on bird chatter. Christopher Intagliata reports. ...
Evolution
Humpback Whales Swap Songs at Island Hub
At the Kermadec Islands, humpbacks from all over the South Pacific converge and swap songs. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Biology
Cholesterol Climbs after Crows Chomp Cheeseburgers
Wild animals that live near humans have higher cholesterol than their rural counterparts—and our food could be to blame. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Engineering
Graphene Garment Blocks Blood-Sucking Skeeters
A small patch of graphene on human skin seemed to block the mosquitoes’ ability to sense certain molecules that trigger a bite. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Space & Physics
Martian Winds Could Spread Microbe Hitchhikers
Microbes fly tens of miles over Chile’s dry, UV-blasted Atacama Desert—and scientists say the same could happen on Mars. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Space & Physics
Secrets of the Universe Trapped in Antarctic Snow
Scientists found an interstellar iron isotope in Antarctic snow samples—which hints that our region of the universe may be the remnant of an ancient exploding star. Christopher Intagliata reports. ...
Public Health
Artificial Intelligence Sniffs Out Unsafe Foods
Researchers trained machine-learning algorithms to read Amazon reviews for hints that a food product would be recalled by the FDA. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Biology
Stare Down Gulls to Avoid Lunch Loss
Researchers slowed the approach of greedy gulls by an average of 21 seconds by staring at the birds versus looking elsewhere. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Evolution
Extinction Wipes Out Evolution’s Hard Work
By killing off many of New Zealand’s endemic birds, humans destroyed 50 million years’ worth of evolutionary history. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Biology
London Is Crawling with Drug-Resistant Microbes
Nearly half of bacteria gathered in public settings around the city were resistant to two or more commonly used antibiotics, such as penicillin and erythromycin. Christopher Intagliata reports...
Biology
Male Black Widows Poach Rivals’ Approaches
Mating is risky business for black widow males—so they hitchhike on the silk threads left by competitors to more quickly find a mate. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Conservation
Tourist Photographs Help African Wildlife Census
Photographs snapped by safari tourists are a surprisingly accurate way to assess populations of African carnivores. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Biology
For Ants, the Sky’s the Compass
Computer modeling revealed that insects with a celestial compass can likely determine direction down to just a couple degrees of error. Christopher Intagliata reports.
