US News | Science Discoveries

Researchers at MIT have shown that they can genetically engineer viruses to build both the positively and negatively charged ends of a lithium-ion battery.

A new study led by Oregan State University shows that declining populations of "apex" predators such as wolves, lions or sharks has led to a huge increase in smaller "mesopredators" that are causing major economic and ecological disruptions.

Michigan State University researchers have designed robots that, in the future, could be ocean-going and cooperatively track moving targets underwater. Schools of swimming robots would be able to work together to do things that one could not do alone, such as tracking large herds of animals or mapping expanses of pollution that can grow and change shape.

Longer toes and a unique ankle structure provide some sprinters with the burst of acceleration that separates them from other runners, according to biomechanists at Penn State University.

Plants may not have eyes and ears, but they can recognize their siblings, and researchers at the University of Delaware have discovered how. Plants recognize family members by detecting chemical cues secreted by their roots. The finding not only sheds light on the intriguing chemical sensing system in plants, but also may have implications for agriculture and even home gardening.

A new study done by researchers at the University of Massachusetts found that when a TV is on in a room both the quantity and the quality of the interactions between parents and their children drops. The researchers studied about 50 1-, 2-, and 3-year-olds, each of whom was placed with one of their parents in two half-hour sessions.

A team of researchers in Denmark, at the University of California, Davis, and at UC Berkeley have identified a group of plant proteins that "shut the door" on bacteria that would otherwise infect the plant's leaves. The findings provide a better understanding of plants' immune systems and will likely find application in better protecting crops and horticultural plants against diseases.

University of Utah mathematicians have developed a brand new cloaking method that functions through wave cancellation and could someday shield submarines from sonar, planes from radar, buildings from earthquakes, and coastal structures from tsunamis. Most previous research used interior cloaking, where the cloaking device envelops the cloaked object. Researchers say this new method "is the first active, exterior cloaking" technique.

A Northwestern University study is the first of its kind and demostrates that having musical training can help a listener distinguish between background noise and sound that the listener is meant to hear.

University of Illinois researchers report that they have assembled a new cancer drug delivery system that, in a cell culture, is able kill tumor cells and spare healthy cells.

Scientists found that highly managed fisheries caused 10 large troubled fish stocks to grow over the course of the study.

A hyper-realistic Einstein robot at the University of California, San Diego has learned to smile and make facial expressions through a process of self-guided learning.