(Credit: all_about_people/shutterstock) (Inside Science) — Scientists searching for environmentally friendly ways to fight the menace of mosquitoes may want to consider a new type of pesticide, according to a new study. Mosquitoes are more than an annoyance at summer picnics — the World Health Organization has estimated the insects kill several million people each year […]
Yes, I am a bit chilly, why? (Credit: tim elliott/Shutterstock.com) Anyone who’s walked their dog when temperatures are frigid knows that canines will shiver and favor a cold paw – which partly explains the boom in the pet clothing industry. But chipmunks and cardinals don’t get fashionable coats or booties. In fact, wildlife can succumb […]
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Hot Jupiters are massive gas giant planets circling their suns at a fraction of the Earth-Sun distance in our own solar system.(Credit: ESA/ATG medialab, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO) Today, astronomers have numerous extrasolar systems to study, but most look very different from our own. Determining how these solar systems — and ours — formed is […]
A near-infrared color image of Titan’s north pole, taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. A new study using Cassini observations reveals rainfall. (Credit: NASA) NASA’s Cassini orbiter captured the north pole on Saturn’s largest moon looking like a wet sidewalk after a bit of rain. This rainfall, which scientists take to signify a change in season on […]
This illustration shows gamma rays bursts and their surrounding “cocoons” blasting from a hypernova. (Credit: Anna Serena Esposito) The link between gamma ray bursts (GRBs) and supernovae has been a confusing one. GRBs are highly energetic jets that blast from massive star explosions, but not all powerful supernovae produce them. Their sporadic nature has puzzled […]
This image shows different views of Sagittarius A. The top two images are simulations of its scattered and unscattered light, while the bottom two show real images taken by a telescope array. (Credit: S. Issaoun, M. Mościbrodzka, Radboud University/ M. D. Johnson, CfA) We’ve spent decades trying to decode our supermassive black hole, but crucial […]
Fossil shark teeth found near the famous T. rex known as Sue led to the identification of new species Galagadon nordquistae, shown here in an artist rendering. (Credit: Velizar Simeonovski/The Field Museum) Tiny fossil shark teeth trapped in the matrix — that’s the matrix of rock and other material that once encased the world’s most famous […]
There’s been an interesting discussion on Twitter about senior scientists who pressure their students or postdocs into scientific misconduct or otherwise poor science: Bullying students into providing the “right” results: research misconduct by proxy? This is probably among the worst but receives little attention — Simon Eickhoff (@INM7_ISN) January 19, 2019 Today, I was made […]
Hives and facial swelling are common allergic responses to food. In the most severe cases, a fatal reaction known as anaphylactic shock can occur. (Credit: Vadim Ratnikov / Shutterstock) Earlier this year, news broke that 11-year-old Cameron Jean-Pierre of New Jersey suffered a fatal allergic reaction to the smell of fish. His family knew about his […]
Pain can light up all regions of the body, making us feel bad. Scientists have now found the brain cells behind that agony. (Credit: Lightspring/shutterstock) A group of researchers have found the brain cells responsible for the emotional unpleasantness of pain — well, they’ve at least found them in mice. But the results, published in […]
Sixty-two breathtaking minutes of totality highlight the five-hour total lunar eclipse the night of January 20/21. A total eclipse of the moon will be visible in its entirety across North and South America this weekend. For more than an hour the night of January 20/21, the colors from all Earth’s sunrises and sunsets bathe the […]
Cotton plants budding in the Chang’e 4 mini biosphere experiment on the mission’s lunar lander on January 7. Just a couple hundred hours later, these plants have died. (Credit: Chongqing University/CNS) Dead Plants Earlier this month, an experiment on China’s Chang’e 4 lander got cotton plants to sprout on the moon for the first time. Well, they’re […]
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A wild bee (Melandrena sp.) visits an apple flower. (Credit: Kent Loeffler) Stroll through an apple orchard in bloom, and you’ll be surrounded with the buzz of busy bees. But unless the farm manager has rented hives of domesticated honeybees — which are not native to the U.S. — the bees at work will be […]