Science News

By Amy Maxmen

Bon appétit! A team of European researchers has decoded the genome of the delectable Périgord black truffle. [More]

Whisking quietly through the night, around buildings, trees and even branches, bats have a keen sense of their surroundings despite darkness. Researchers have known for decades that bats use their sonarlike echolocation to "see" potential obstacles as well as prey. But bats' execution of their airborne acrobatics often got scientists wondering just how they could be so specific--even while moving at high speeds through dense vegetation. [More]

Innocent? Or guilty? As any judge can tell you, it’s not so simple.  What was going in the defendant’s mind is important.  Underlying intent is a pretty big deal when it comes to moral judgment.

Past studies have shown that an area of the brain, the right temporoparietal junction, shows increased activity when people read about another’s intentions or beliefs.

Dear EarthTalk: If the ice caps are melting, what is happening to the salt content of the oceans? And might this contribute to weather patterns or cause other environmental problems? --George Boyer, via e-mail

Killing commuters with bombs has to be one of the most cowardly (and dastardly) forms of terrorism. And that's exactly what happened in Moscow earlier today, as suicide bombers from Chechnya detonated themselves as trains pulled into the Lubyanka and Park Kultury stations . The Russian capital's subway system is one of the busiest in the world, along with Tokyo, New York and London. [More]

SAKAI, Kenya -- No one complained that the rains were late when they watered the parched hills and muddied the roads here in December. Normally, they would have begun weeks earlier.

Villagers were grateful the rain had come at all.

Benhur Lee may have discovered a medical silver bullet that can disable pandemic HIV, exotic Ebola, the common flu and possibly every kind of enveloped virus on the planet. An added bonus is that those viruses likely are unable to develop resistance to the compound. [More]

For earthbound creatures like us, flight just seems so fantastical. How do birds and bats and other flying beasties manage to get off and stay off the ground? Well, having wings obviously helps. And bird bones are hollow and seem delicate, which should help lighten the load. [More]