Of Hagfish, Geckos and Dragonflies
April 4, 2013
Some of the most unlikely creatures are making headlines because of their potential for advancing technology.
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Before the Cock Crows, the Biological Clock Strikes
March 30, 2013
At Easter time, people recall the story of Peter denying Jesus three times before the rooster crowed. Some scientists tried to figure out what clicks the rooster's clock alarm.
Scientific Findings Can Be Counterintuitive
March 28, 2013
Here are examples of recent claims in science that seem to contradict what some would consider intuitively obvious. They should be kept in mind when evaluating other scientific truisms, like evolution.
Biomimetics Matching Game
March 27, 2013
Try your hand at matching the organism with the new technology being developed from its design.
Gold, Earthquakes, and Time
March 17, 2013
How long does it take to form veins of gold in the rock? (a) millions of years; (b) less than a second.
Arctic Camel Found
March 10, 2013
Fossils from a large species of camel living in Canada's high arctic contain soft tissue.
Complex Brain Wiring Unveiled in New Images
February 24, 2013
Surely one of the great mysteries of human life is how a single fertilized egg cell grows to an adult, with a brain sporting hundreds of billions of functional connections supporting abstract thought.
Soil, Sustainability, and the Blue Revolution
February 20, 2013
Life-sustaining resources are right beneath our feet, says a Penn State hydrologist.
What Do a Toucan, an Oyster and a Spider Have in Common? Bio-Engineers' Drool
February 17, 2013
If we want to build more robust, lightweight materials, two researchers say, look to nature.
Was Charlemagne Protected from a Cosmic Disaster? A Carbon-14 Mystery
January 22, 2013
Tree ring data from the 8th century hint that a cosmic catastrophe was averted on the "privileged planet."
Ferrari-Like Gears Move Your Muscles
January 20, 2013
A creative science reporter compares the "gears" of molecular motors in your muscle cells to those of high-performance cars.
Wilt Thou? Not with Guards in the Chem Lab
January 7, 2013
Plants avoid wilting with pairs of guard cells performing chemical wizardry.
Happy New Biomimetics Year
January 4, 2013
The variety of design applications coming from the imitation of natural solutions continues to be astonishing.
An Unexpected Forest Helper: Mistletoe
December 31, 2012
Long thought a tree-killing bane, parasitic mistletoe appears to do much more good than harm to a forest ecology.
Red Blood Cells Are Frisbees, Tanks and Wheels
December 30, 2012
Cells as commonplace as red blood cells still keep researchers wondering how they perform their job so well.