Great scientists become immortalized in various ways. Some through names for obscure units of measurement (à la Hertz, Faraday and Curie). Others in elements on the periodic table (Mendeleev, Seaborg,…
Category: Life
Tiger sharks helped discover the world’s largest seagrass prairie
Scientists have teamed up with tiger sharks to uncover the largest expanse of seagrasses on Earth. A massive survey of the Bahamas Banks — a cluster of underwater plateaus surrounding…
Tiger sharks helped discover the world’s largest seagrass prairie
Scientists have teamed up with tiger sharks to uncover the largest expanse of seagrasses on Earth. A massive survey of the Bahamas Banks — a cluster of underwater plateaus…
A clam presumed extinct for 40,000 years has been found alive
A species of clam is back from the dead. Known as Cymatioa cooki, the clam had only ever been found as a fossil, and scientists presumed that the species had…
New brain implants ‘read’ words directly from people’s thoughts
SAN DIEGO — Scientists have devised ways to “read” words directly from brains. Brain implants can translate internal speech into external signals, permitting communication from people with paralysis or other…
Why dandelion seeds are so good at spreading widely
You don’t need a dandelion to know which way the wind blows. But it can help. On any given dandelion, some seeds are destined to go north, while others are…
DNA is providing new clues to why COVID-19 hits people differently
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the mercurial nature of the coronavirus has been on display. Some people get mild, cold-like illnesses or even have no symptoms when infected, while…
Sharks face rising odds of extinction even as other big fish populations recover
After decades of population declines, the future is looking brighter for several tuna and billfish species, such as southern bluefin tuna, black marlins and swordfish, thanks to years of successful…
Some harlequin frogs — presumed extinct — have been rediscovered
Across Central and South America, one group of bejeweled frogs is making a comeback. Harlequin frogs — a genus with over 100 brightly colored species — were one of the…
Here’s how mysterious last-resort antibiotics kill bacteria
To kill drug-resistant bacteria, “last-resort” antibiotics borrow a tactic from Medusa’s playbook: petrification. New high-resolution microscope images show that a class of antibiotics called polymyxins crystallize the cell membranes of…
