Friday, 25 May, 2012

How do homing pigeons find their way on their amazing migrations? For a decade, scientists thought iron-bearing nerve cells in the beak can detect Earth’s magnetic field. But those iron granules are in immune cells. So how do the birds do it?

Returning to the site of a classic “first forest” site, New York scientists have found extra complexity: three fossilized trees-like species aged almost 400 million years. One find, a vine-like monster, may be a direct descendant of all seed-bearing trees!

In African savannas, cattle graze the same grass as zebras, elephants and gazelles. Obviously, wildlife are stealing food from the mouths of cattle, and from the people who depend on cattle. But new data show that in the wet season, grazing wildlife actually benefit cattle!

As southwestern forests go up in smoke, we look at the long-term picture. Fighting fires has made fire the remaining fires more intense, but controlled burns have their own hazards. Are we already seeing the effect of climate change on forest fires?

Must scientific literature be so darn murky? Do we really need clinkers like “biomedicine” and “astrolicism”? What if they just wrote English for a change? Join us for an entertaining tour of the dark side of the scientific enterprise!

MRI scans of older people show major differences between searchers and non-searchers. After seven hours of Internet experience, those differences disappear. Honest? Could changing the brain be this easy?

Feeling cramped? New measurement says the universe is bigger than you thought. Meet the astronomers’ new yardstick.

Korean scientist pulled off the biggest scientific fraud in memory. How did he do it? How is science supposed to prevent fraud? Why did it matter, and who loses out?

The solar clock doesn’t quite line up with the atomic clock. We use leap seconds to make them match. Should we dump the leap second?

This Why File surveys the latest in forensic anthropology, with a visit to the Forensic Anthropology Center at the University of Tennessee, AKA The Body Farm.