Encyclopedia of Life
A new, comprehensive repository of scientific information for all life on earth comes to the web.
Global Seed Bank
A new global seed vault will safeguard food crops from around the world.
Animal Roundup
Beaver dams help conserve water and scientists discover a behemoth amongst frogs.
Lost City Vent
An unusual deep-sea vent may have churned out the first seeds of life.
Metabolism Roundup
Artificial sweeteners cause rats to slow down their metabolism and gain weight.
Podcast
What happened to our vitamin C, new insights into childhood leukemia, and why artificial sweeteners make rats fat.
Bioengineering Roundup
Researchers use a diatom's genes to design a better microchip.
Podcast
How air pollution could cause heart disease. Global warming may make Antartica vulnerable to predators. "Virtual" children help real children thrive.
Antarctic Invasion
Global climate change could open the Antarctic up to predators it hasn't seen in millions of years.
Podcast
AAAS 2008 ANNUAL MEETING SPECIAL: Sand spiders use elaborate camouflage, a new interactive map tracks threats to the oceans, and four healthful habits of long-lived people.
Sandy Spiders
Researchers discover how a spider renders itself nearly invisible using a coat of sand.
Genetics Roundup
Researchers develop an effective new method for inserting genes into cells.
Fungal Sex
The origins of the male Y chromosome may be revealed in a primitive fungus.
Sperm Quality Control
New research suggests how defective sperm are tagged for destruction.
Podcast
Space Research Update: the 11-year solar storm cycle returns, the MESSENGER spacecraft reports back from Mercury, and the search for intelligent life in the universe continues with the help of your computer. Also: Unique animal and plant adaptations.
This week's web links:
Space Weather Network: www.swpc.noaa.gov/SWN;
Latest MESSENGER photographs of Mercury: messenger.jhuapl.edu;
Sign up for SETI@Home: setiathome.berkeley.edu
Parasitic Butterflies
Butterflies use chemical signals to fool ants into raising their young.
Animal Grandparents
Researchers scientifically document grandparenting behavior in animals for the first time.
Blind Cave Fish
Breeding blind cave fish from different populations results in offspring that can see.
Podcast
Brain Pathways: Why we shiver, blind people who still sense light, and brain chemicals and intelligence.
Animal Roundup
Squirrels foil their predators by making themselves smell less like squirrels and more like their predators.
Wavering Warblers
Scientists have discovered surprising geographical variation in what some female songbirds find attractive in a mate.
Sexy Fruit Flies
In a species of fruit fly, a male's attractiveness to the opposite sex gets passed from one generation to the next.
Podcast
Genes and the Brain: What mice can tell us about cocaine addiction and our ability to tell hot from cold. Plus: could a gene contribute to poor judgment?
Cooling Menthol
How menthol and the ability to sense cold are genetically linked.