Science

An mRNA cancer vaccine may offer long-term protection 

Great hammerhead sharks are known for their long migrations, but scientists have now discovered that some individuals in the Bahamas instead spend all year snacking without leaving their plentiful and protected home waters. Why would some individuals take off if others are happy to stay put? The answer to this mystery might be their favorite…

A baby’s early life has a lot of milestones: first giggle, first tooth, first step. A brain scanning study adds to the list: first memory. Infants can form memories, and they use a memory structure in the brain called the hippocampus to do it, researchers report in the March 21 Science. The results shore up…

Images of California’s wildfires this winter speak for themselves about the fires’ devastating effects. But those pictures don’t tell the whole story. Together with soil emissions, the fires are driving an increase in ground-level ozone pollution — causing a fundamental shift in our atmosphere’s chemistry, researchers say, and potentially rendering air pollution standards unmeetable.  “We’re…

Gray seals may sense their own blood oxygen levels

The foul stench of penguin poop sets Antarctic krill on edge. In lab experiments, the mere scent of penguin droppings — or guano — sent krill scrambling for escape, researchers report March 20 in Frontiers in Marine Science. The stink also seemed to suppress krill’s appetites. Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) form a cornerstone of the…