The ice covering Antarctica got its start on the top of a high peak in the Gamburtsev mountains about 43 million years ago, according to a new study published today in Nature. Using simple radar to peer through the ice, researchers have gained new insights about the hidden mountains--and the formation of the ice that entombs them. [More]

Editor’s note: For the next three days, Scientific American contributing editor Christie Nicholson will be traveling with nearly 80 scientists conducting the largest tornado study ever completed. Check out her progress and learn about twisters on SciAm’s Twitter feed. [More]

Researchers have created a line of fruit flies that may someday help shed light on the mechanisms that cause insomnia in humans. The flies, which only get a small fraction of the sleep of normal flies, resemble insomniac humans in several ways.

A flurry of recent research has documented that talking on a cell phone poses a dangerous distraction for drivers and others whose attention should be focused elsewhere. Now, a new study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology finds that just the ring of a cell phone may be equally distracting, especially when it comes in a classroom setting or includes a familiar song as a ringtone.

A possible relationship between men’s diets and the quality of their semen has long been a discussion point. Researchers have now confirmed that antioxidants, molecules which are found mainly in fruit and vegetables and can delay and prevent the oxidation of other molecules, play a key role.

Testing people for heart disease might be just a finger prick away thanks to a new credit card-sized device. This device can measure and collect a type of cells needed to build vascular tissue, called endothelial progenitor cells, using only 200 microliters of blood.

Factors that lead to emergency department overcrowdings, ambulance diversions and other incidents that endanger patient safety have been revealed. A new study has shown that reductions in the number of hospital beds and downsizing or closure of emergency departments may create a dangerous loss of "surge capacity".

About half of all people who have a major stroke following a warning stroke (a transient ischemic attack or mild stroke) have it within 24 hours of the first event, according to new research.

A new study shows mammals change their dietary niches based on climate-driven environmental changes, contradicting a common assumption that species maintain their niches despite global warming.

Scientists have developed a new technique to remotely measure thunderstorm electric fields on the ground.