e! Science News | Latest science news articles

Ancient giant turtle fossil revealed

This is a reconstruction of <I>Carbonemys</I> preying upon a small crocodylomorph.

Herschel Space Observatory study reveals galaxy-packed filament

A McGill-led research team using the Herschel Space Observatory has discovered a giant, galaxy-packed filament ablaze with billions of new stars. The filament connects two clusters of galaxies that, along...

UCLA researchers map damaged connections in Phineas Gage's brain

Poor Phineas Gage. In 1848, the supervisor for the Rutland and Burlington Railroad in Vermont was using a 13-pound, 3-foot-7-inch rod to pack blasting powder into a rock when he...

Penn and Genographic Project scientists illuminate the ancient history of circumarctic peoples

Two studies led by scientists from the University of Pennsylvania and National Geographic's Genographic Project reveal new information about the migration patterns of the first humans to settle the Americas....

IU research: Forest diversity from Canada to the sub-tropics influenced by family proximity

How species diversity is maintained is a fundamental question in biology. In a new study, a team of Indiana University biologists has shown for the first time that diversity is...

In chemical reactions, water adds speed without heat

An international team of researchers has discovered how adding trace amounts of water can tremendously speed up chemical reactions -- such as hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis -- in which hydrogen is...

Why do consumers dislike corporate brands that get too familiar?

Although it is tempting to use the word "we" to make consumers feel like part of the family, people react negatively when brands overstep their boundaries, according to a new...

Fighting bacteria's strength in numbers

Scientists at The University of Nottingham have opened the way for more accurate research into new ways to fight dangerous bacterial infections by proving a long-held theory about how bacteria...

UC San Diego biologists produce potential malarial vaccine from algae

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have succeeded in engineering algae to produce potential candidates for a vaccine that would prevent transmission of the parasite that causes malaria,...

Ancient tree-ring records from Southwest US suggest today's megafires are truly unusual

Today's mega forest fires of the southwestern U.S. are truly unusual and exceptional in the long-term record, suggests a new study that examined hundreds of years of ancient tree ring...

Sumatra faces yet another risk -- major volcanic eruptions

The early April earthquake of magnitude 8.6 that shook Sumatra was a grim reminder of the devastating earthquakes and tsunami that killed tens of thousands of people in 2004 and...

1,000 years of climate data confirms Australia's warming

In the first study of its kind in Australasia, scientists have used 27 natural climate records to create the first large-scale temperature reconstruction for the region over the last 1000 years.

New technique reveals unseen information in DNA code

Imagine reading an entire book, but then realizing that your glasses did not allow you to distinguish "g" from "q." What details did you miss?

We can learn a lot from other species

Researchers at the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics and the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute have confirmed the long-held belief that studying the genes we share with other animals is useful. The...

Abundance of rare DNA changes following population explosion may hold clues to common diseases

One-letter switches in the DNA code occur much more frequently in human genomes than anticipated, but are often only found in one or a few individuals.

Religion is a potent force for cooperation and conflict, research shows

Across history and cultures, religion increases trust within groups but also may increase conflict with other groups, according to an article in a special issue of Science.

CSHL study uncovers a new exception to a decades-old rule about RNA splicing

There are always exceptions to a rule, even one that has prevailed for more than three decades, as demonstrated by a Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) study on RNA splicing,...

Researchers reveal an RNA modification influences thousands of genes

Over the past decade, research in the field of epigenetics has revealed that chemically modified bases are abundant components of the human genome and has forced us to abandon the...

OMG! Texting ups truthfulness, new iPhone study suggests

Text messaging is a surprisingly good way to get candid responses to sensitive questions, according to a new study to be presented this week at the annual meeting of the...

Pain relief through distraction -- it's not all in your head

Mental distractions make pain easier to take, and those pain-relieving effects aren't just in your head, according to a report published online on May 17 in Current Biology, a Cell...

Manmade pollutants may be driving Earth's tropical belt expansion

Black carbon aerosols and tropospheric ozone, both humanmade pollutants emitted predominantly in the Northern Hemisphere's low- to mid-latitudes, are most likely pushing the boundary of the tropics further poleward in...

Can consumers 'fit in' yet remain unique?

Most consumers want to fit in while still asserting their individuality -- and they balance these conflicting desires when choosing products, according to a new study in the Journal of...