Rachel Nuwer

Rachel Nuwer

 

Rachel Nuwer is a freelance science writer based in Brooklyn.

Tom Clancy at a book signing at Boston College.

Espionage Thriller Author Tom Clancy Dies

Clancy authored more than 20 books and his final novel, Command Authority, is scheduled for release on December 3

NASA Found Propene, the Chemical Used to Make Your Tupperware, on One of Saturn’s Moons

This new discovery fills in a gap in that chemical line-up, though experts suspect that many more molecular surprises await

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Early Easter Islanders Ate Rats—Lots of Rats

Perhaps the lack of fish food even explains the orientation of Easter Island's famous statues, which face inwards toward the islanders' food source

Krokodil, a “Flesh-Eating” Heroin Substitute Popular in Russia, Just Showed Up in the U.S.

Desomorphine, a cleaner form of the drug, was first concocted by the U.S. in the 1930s as a potential morphine substitute

Saint Coronatus joined a convent in Heiligkreuztal, Germany, in 1676

Meet the Fantastically Bejeweled Skeletons of Catholicism’s Forgotten Martyrs

Art historian and author Paul Koudounaris elucidates the macabre splendor and tragic history of Europe’s catacomb saints

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Ballerinas’ Brains Are Desensitized to Dizziness

Dancers may reshape their brains with years or training, or people who have a natural ability not to fall over may be most likely to become pro ballerinas

Giant Hornets Proliferated During China’s Heatwave, And Now Have Killed 28 People

Entomologists speculate that the exceptionally warm weather in China allowed the aggressive, deadly hornets to proliferate

Water submerged tracts of this Thai forest, cutting off one part from another and creating forest islands.

When a Dam Turned a Forest Into Tiny Islands, Only Rats Were Happy

Although the rate of extinction the researchers observed is startling, it's unfortunately not surprising

Coastal Animals Have Two Internal Clocks, One for the Sun And One for the Tide

When researchers tamped with sea lice's internal clocks, the crustaceans were unruffled by the unwinding of their circadian cycles

Researchers Hope a Treatment that Creates New Hair Follicles Cures Male Baldness

A specific protein called fibroblast growth factor 9, when overstimulated in mice, increased new hair follicle formation by a factor of two or three

Microbes Can Tell Scientists Exactly How Long a Body’s Been Decaying

In addition to helping determine time of death, microbes may be able to tease out causes of death and place of death

Rolly-polly trilobite

Meet the First Creature Ever to Roll Up in a Ball for Self-Defense

A species of tiny trilobite has taken the ball-rolling champion lead by millions of years

Archaeologists Looking for a Sultan’s Buried Heart Found a Whole Town Instead

Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent's missing heart still has not been found, but archeologists searching for it did discover a lost, ancient Ottoman town

Almaty, Kazakhstan, will be home to a new $102 million dollar biosecurity lab.

This U.S.-Backed Lab Is Meant to Keep Talented Kazakh Scientists From Making Biological Weapons

The unassumingly-named Central Reference Laboratory is slotted to open in 2015 and will securely store and study highest risk diseases

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The Smell of Newborn Babies Triggers the Same Reward Centers as Drugs

When women catch the scent of a newborn baby, their dopamine pathways in a region of the brain associated with reward learning light up

Eagle versus deer

A Wild Golden Eagle Can Take Down a Deer Just As Well As a Trained One

Besides being cool images, the behavior captured on the camera trap is extremely rare for Golden Eagles in nature

China Claims to Have Bought a Huge Chunk of Ukraine

China says it's purchased 3 million hectares of Ukrainian farming land, but Ukraine says it has no intention of selling land to China

Spot the impostor: A cuckoo finch chick (left) and a tawny-flanked prinia chick (right) open their beaks for a meal.

Parasitic Cuckoo Finches Use an Egg Overload to Evade Host Defenses

The more eggs a parasitic cuckoo finch lays in its host's nest, the more likely a discerning foster parent will accept the finch's young as its own

Britain’s Building a Transportation Network Just for Bees (And Other Pollinators)

The idea is to provide passage for insects that play a role in maintaining an estimated 90 percent of Britain's greenery and crops through pollination

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Fears Can Be Erased While We Sleep

Researchers think that this method could find some application in alleviating conditions such as PTSD, but those potential uses are speculative

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