Cardiovascular disease claims more lives each year than do the two next-deadliest diseases combined. An ultrasound technique that tracks tiny gas-filled bubbles could pave the way towards improved early detection.

Some fox species leap up and pounce head first into snow to capture prey that they hear below the surface. An analysis of the forces involved reveals how the shape of the skull has evolved to minimize damage from this behaviour.

In ordinary materials, electrons move too quickly for their negative electric charges to affect their interactions. But at low temperatures and densities, they can be made to crystallize into an exotic type of electron solid — a phenomenon predicted by Eugene Wigner 90 years ago and only now directly observed.

A study provides insights into how energy flows in the food webs that connect soil- and canopy-dwelling organisms in tropical ecosystems with high biodiversity. When rainforest is converted to plantations, food webs are simplified and restructured, leading to profound changes in tropical-ecosystem functioning.