More Stories from the May 10, 2008 issue
- Life
Rest in peace nanobacteria, you were not alive after all
New studies bid a fond farewell to nanobacteria -- the extremely tiny “microorganisms” that have sparked controversy and may cause disease.
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- Humans
Shifting priorities at the wheel
Multitasking while driving may exceed brain's capacity, a new study finds.
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Hobbit wars
Little islanders did not have a growth disorder
- Paleontology
China was an ancient-ape paradise
Fossil dig uncovers the oldest known remains of ancestral gibbons
- Life
Elephant kin liked the water
Moeritherium, ancient relatives of modern elephants, may have spent much of their time in lakes, rivers or swamps.
- Health & Medicine
Triggering autoimmune assaults
Mouth bacteria unleash inflammation-inducing protein
- Agriculture
Study decodes papaya genome
Scientists have added another plant to the genome-sequencing roster: the tropical fruit tree papaya.
- Health & Medicine
Old drug offers new tricks for fighting cancer
A drug once envisioned as a treatment for cancer might instead prevent the occurrence of colorectal cancer.
- Earth
Melt pond falls through ice in Greenland
A lake of meltwater atop Greenland's ice sheet wedged open a crack in the underlying ice that drained the lake dry.
- Space
Black hole once glowed brightly
More than 26,000 years ago, the Milky Way's central black hole suddenly but fleetingly increases its X-ray output.
- Ecosystems
Beetle attack overturns forest carbon regime
Ravaged Canadian region switches from carbon sink to net carbon source.
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- Space
Searching for superEarths
Astronomers are exploring a new family of planets beyond the solar system.
- Ecosystems
Eight-legged bags of poison
Birds eating arachnids get high dose of toxic metal as mercury climbs up the food chain.
- Humans
Change Without Change
New clothes for the modern media climate, but no departure from traditional purpose for Science News.
- Environment
Down with Carbon
Scientists are exploring strategies for capturing carbon dioxide and storing it safely away in order to limit the levels of that greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.
- Life
Twin Fates
Animal and human studies suggest that a girl with a twin brother may never completely escape the influence of her opposite-sex womb-mate.
