All Stories
- Life
Numbers flap has minor implications for global extinctions
A statistical technique used to estimate rates of species disappearance is flawed, two ecologists charge — but not enough to invalidate recent dire assessments.
- Humans
It’s time to put a price on carbon, NRC says
“It is imprudent to delay actions that at least begin the process of substantially reducing emissions [of greenhouse gases],” according to a May 12 report by the National Research Council. It didn’t get a lot of press play in the past week, perhaps because its 144 pages don’t say anything readers might not have expected this august body to have proclaimed years ago. But that shouldn’t diminish the significance of this report, its authors contend.
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- Humans
Geographic profiling fights disease
Widely used to snare serial criminals, a forensic method finds application in epidemiology.
- Health & Medicine
No pain, healthier brain
When chronic back problems are treated, benefits extend above the neck.
- Space
Atom & Cosmos
Liquid water possible on Earthlike planet, plus black-hole atoms, Io’s magma ocean and more in this week’s news.
- Life
Daytime bites for zombie ants
The living dead of the insect world show an unexplained sense of timing: a surge of strange activity in the a.m. followed by a final death grip at midday.
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Microbial mats may have given early animals breathing room
Early animals survived poor marine conditions by inhaling oxygen from bacterial "mines" at the bottom of the ocean.
- Chemistry
Melting icebergs fertilize ocean
Releasing extra iron into the water boosts carbon dioxide uptake by plankton.
- Chemistry
Molecules/Matter & Energy
How leeches are able to swell tenfold, plus not-so-super solids, new natural toxins and more in this week's news.
- Earth
Earth/Environment
Earthquake risk in Chile, plus an ancient Greek island and casino pollution in this week’s news.
