Bacteria help carnivorous plants drown their prey
Bacteria may be a meat-eating plant’s best friends thanks to their power to reduce the surface tension of water. The carnivorous pitcher plant Darlingtonia californica releases water into the tall…
Bird plus goggles equals new insight into flight physics
A bird in laser goggles has helped scientists discover a new phenomenon in the physics of flight. Swirling vortices appear in the flow of air that follows a bird’s wingbeat.…
Cell biologists learn how Zika kills brain cells, devise schemes to stop it
SAN FRANCISCO — Cell biologists are learning more about how the Zika virus disrupts brain cells to cause the birth defect microcephaly, in which a baby’s brain and head are…
Cells snack on nanowires
Human cells can snack on silicon. Cells grown in the lab devour nano-sized wires of silicon through an engulfing process known as phagocytosis, scientists report December 16 in Science Advances.…
Meat-eating pitcher plants raise deathtraps to an art
Tricking some bug into drowning takes finesse, especially for a hungry meat eater with no brain, eyes or moving parts. Yet California pitcher plants are very good at it. Growing…
Coastal waters were an oxygen oasis 2.3 billion years ago
Earth was momentarily ripe for the evolution of animals hundreds of millions of years before they first appeared, researchers propose. Chemical clues in ancient rocks suggest that 2.32 billion to…
Construction of tiny, fluid-filled devices inspired by Legos
Legos have provided the inspiration for small, fluid-ferrying devices that can be built up brick-by-brick. Tools for manipulating tiny amounts of liquid, known as microfluidic devices, can be used to…
Analysis finds gender bias in peer-reviewer picks
Gender bias works in subtle ways, even in the scientific process. The latest illustration of that: Scientists recommend women less often than men as reviewers for scientific papers, a new…
Physically abused kids learn to fail at social rules for success
Physical abuse at home doesn’t just leave kids black and blue. It also bruises their ability to learn how to act at school and elsewhere, contributing to abused children’s well-documented…
If you think the Amazon jungle is completely wild, think again
Welcome to the somewhat civilized jungle. Plant cultivation by native groups has shaped the landscape of at least part of South America’s Amazon forests for more than 8,000 years, researchers…