Do Dogs Know Other Dogs Are Dogs?
Julie Hecht, Scientific American
This is not a philosophical riddle. Despite their highly variable appearance, dogs can recognize each other by sight alone.
Julie Hecht, Scientific American
This is not a philosophical riddle. Despite their highly variable appearance, dogs can recognize each other by sight alone.
R. Robbins, Stat
Not even the holiday slowdown could bring a reprieve for the beleaguered blood-testing company Theranos.
Science News
At the end of 2015, Science looked back at some of the biggest science stories of the year. Now we’re looking forward, pondering which research trends and ideas are poised to create buzz in 2016—making them the scientific equivalent of the recent Star Wars movie—and which ones are losing some steam.
Michele Debczak, Mental Floss
When residents of these remote communities say they live in the middle of nowhere, they’re not exaggerating. Whether they’re located 1500 miles from the nearest coast or 17,000 feet above sea level, these are nine isolated towns you won't find yourself “just passing through” anytime soon.
Jason Bittel, Slate
At the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, there’s no way to miss the Tyrannosaurs. The museum’s curators have constructed a scene in which two colossal theropods square off over a kill—mouths agape, teeth like sickles threatening to disembowel whichever fossil flinches first. You can almost feel the ground shake as the stone giants circle the carcass.
Julie Kelly, WSJ
Despite what you may hear from the culinary elite, genetic engineering is winning the day and gradually overcoming their Frankenfood fear-mongering. A flurry of good news this year ought to convince the public, more than ever, of the safety and the tremendous promise of this technology.
Elizabeth Preston, Inkfish
New Caledonian crows are some of the world’s most famous non-human tool users. The crows employ sticks, leaves, and even bits of wire in the lab to probe holes in branches or logs, fishing out tasty bugs. But scientists are usually stuck studying these behaviors in artificial environments. To get a better perspective on how these birds make and use tools in nature, researchers in the United Kingdom tried something new: they turned wild crows into documentary filmmakers.
P. Rincon & J. Amos, BBC
After a year that saw the first close-up investigation of Pluto and the unveiling of a new human species, what scientific discoveries are likely to make headlines in 2016?
Esther Inglis-Arkell, io9
This recording lets us see 77 of the nematode’s 302 neurons light up like a Christmas display as the worm freely wriggles around on a plate. This is amazing. We’re watching an animal’s mind at work.
Jeanna Bryner, Live Science
Scientists have produced a powder of plutonium-238 for the first time in nearly 30 years in the United States, a milestone that they say sets the country on a path toward powering NASA's deep-space exploration and other missions.