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Nuclear Fusion Flares on a Tabletop
By blasting clusters of deuterium atoms with a small, yet powerful laser, researchers have achieved the long-held dream of sparking nuclear fusion on a lab bench.
Solvents' link to birth defects bolstered
Exposure to organic solvents increases a pregnant woman's likelihood of having a deformed baby.
Growing nerve fibers get some guidance
A protein called Slit can repel growing nerve fibers or encourage axons to sprout secondary branches.
China's air pollution chokes crop growth
Rural ozone pollution in China is high enough to threaten agriculture there.
Rainy night in Georgia, at least in Atlanta
Precise measurements of Atlanta's heat island, which can produce clouds and thunderstorms, fuel a growing trend toward forecasting weather for urban microenvironments.
Moon's tiny core hints at earthly origin
Two new studies support the notion that the moon formed when a Mars-size planet plowed into Earth several billion years ago.
Immune response may tie stress to colds
Highly stressed people experience a sharp increase in the production of an immune-system chemical messenger, which may amplify common cold symptoms.
Device eliminates wait for DNA results
A machine that automatically analyzes DNA from blood could speed up forensic analysis and genetic screening.
The Sun Also Writhes
Laboratory solar physics sheds first light on Sol's seething sinews
Experiments conducted by nuclear fusion scientists in the lab provide important insights into the behavior of solar plasmas.
Why AIDS?
The mystery of how HIV attacks the immune system
New research suggests that HIV lowers the number of immune cells by preventing the production of new CD4 cells or by triggering a self-destruct mechanism in these cells.
Astronomy
Trying to avoid Hubble trouble
NASA is planning to launch an emergency repair mission this October to replace gyroscopes on the Hubble Space Telescope before it loses its ability to focus on celestial targets.
Hubble captures a burst's afterglow
The Hubble Space Telescope has zeroed in on the home galaxy of the most powerful gamma-ray burst ever recorded.
Behavior
Friendly peril for disaster workers
Volunteers who find that a disaster victim reminds them of a friend are particularly likely to exhibit a severe trauma reaction and experience other psychological problems.
Criminal links to prenatal smoking
Violent crime rates rise sharply among men whose mothers smoked cigarettes during pregnancy and also experienced delivery complications.
Biomedicine
New support for echinacea's benefits
The herbal remedy echinacea may fight colds by activating certain immune cells in the blood.
Some herbals may threaten fertility
Test-tube studies indicate that some popular over-the-counter herbal remedies, such as echinacea and St. John's wort, may impair fertility or induce mutations in sperm.
Physics
Icy observatory launches neutrino hunt
A telescope made from photomultiplier tubes strung on cables and sunk deep into the Antarctic ice has begun hunting for cosmic sources of the elusive subatomic particles called neutrinos.
Light crawls through cold-atom cloud
Light is slowed to a humble bicyclist's pace in an experiment that forces light pulses to slog through a cloud of very cold atoms under the sway of a specially tuned laser.
