Research News

How do we make sense of all that chatter?

How People Learned To Recognize Monkey Calls Reveals How We All Make Sense Of Sound

5:31pm April 18, 2018

by Jon Hamilton

A brain imaging study of grown-ups hints at how children learn that "dog" and "fog" have different meanings, even though they sound so much alike.

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Researchers used a gene-carrying virus to fix blood stem cells that were then used to treat patients with beta-thalassemia.

Gene Therapy For Inherited Blood Disorder Reduced Transfusions

5:01pm April 18, 2018

by Rob Stein

A small study finds promise for using gene therapy to treat patients with beta-thalassemia, a blood condition that can cause severe anemia. The experimental treatment is in early development.

There are variations in the appearance of severely bleached corals. Here, the coral displays pink fluorescing tissue signalling heat stress.

Science

Climate Change Is Killing Coral On The Great Barrier Reef

4:46pm April 18, 2018

by Merrit Kennedy

The ecosystem has collapsed for 29 percent of the 3,863 reefs in the giant coral reef system, according to new research. Scientists are learning which corals are the "winners" and "losers."

Eddies behind an A. salina shrimp swimming

Swarms Of Tiny Sea Creatures Are Powerful Enough To Mix Oceans, Study Finds

2:59pm April 18, 2018

by Rebecca Hersher

Each night, the organisms gather in a "vertical stampede" to feed at the ocean's surface. Research suggests the columns of swimming animals can create large downward jets that help churn the waters.

A chick embryo, sealed inside its egg, must find a way to get oxygen without its mom — and long before it has working lungs.

Science

How Birds-To-Be Get Oxygen Inside Eggs

5:45am April 17, 2018

Unlike humans, bird embryos don't have an oxygen pipeline from their mothers. They develop inside eggs in a nest. Skunk Bear's latest video explains why these pre-hatchlings don't suffocate.

Carolina Reapers are some of the hottest peppers in the world. So hot, in fact, that for one man, participating in a pepper-eating contestant resulted in a painful, serious "thunderclap headache."

The Super-Hot Pepper That Sent A Man To The ER

9:53am April 16, 2018

by Richard Harris

Carolina Reapers are some of the hottest peppers in the world. So hot, in fact, that for one man, participating in a pepper-eating contestant resulted in a painful, serious "thunderclap headache."

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Soda for sale at a supermarket in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia. A sticker on the shelves tells customers the items are subject to the city's sugar tax.

Philadelphians Drink Less Sugary Soda, More Water, After Tax

3:38pm April 13, 2018

by Allison Aubrey

A new study suggests that residents of Philadelphia are 40 percent less likely to drink sweetened beverages daily compared with people in cities that don't have a soda tax in place.

Loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings are packed into containers at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center before being taken to a U.S. Coast Guard vessel for release in Boca Raton, Fla.

Science

Magnetic Fields Are A Big Predictor Of A Loggerhead Turtle's Genes

1:43pm April 12, 2018

by Merrit Kennedy

You might expect turtles that live near each other or in similar environments would be genetically similar. But new research shows that magnetic fields actually have more to do with genetic likeness.

Science

Really Random Numbers

5:19am April 12, 2018

by Joe Palca

Random numbers are essential for secure cyber communications. But making truly random numbers is harder than it seems. Now scientists have devised a way to make the most random random numbers ever.

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Melodie Beckham (left), here with her daughter, Laura, had metastatic lung cancer and chose to stop taking medical marijuana after it failed to relieve her symptoms. She died a few weeks after this photo was taken.

Medical Marijuana's 'Catch-22': Limits On Research Hinder Patient Relief

8:20am April 07, 2018

Suffering Americans seek medical marijuana as an alternative to opioids and other powerful pharmaceuticals. Though legal in 29 states, doctors say the lack of strong data make it hard to recommend.