All Stories
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- Life
1000 Genomes pilot a hit with geneticists
The first stage of a project to probe human genetic diversity has found millions of new variations.
- Health & Medicine
Pancreatic cancer years in the making
A decade elapses from the first cancer-related mutation to tumor formation, and several more years pass until the disease spreads to other organs, a new study finds. The work raises the possibility that a usually deadly malignancy can be treated before it’s too late.
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Red-yeast cholesterol fighters can be worthless
Manufacturers don’t report quantities of active ingredients, which can be next to nil, or the presence of fungal toxins.
- Humans
Weighing risks, convicts display blind spots
Prisoners often don’t appreciate likely gains or losses in making decisions, a finding with possible policy implications.
- Space
Spacecraft eavesdrops on distant stars
By listening to sound waves, researchers hope to learn about the age and composition of distant worlds.
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- Humans
When to welcome ‘invading’ species
As climate changes, some environments are becoming hostile to the flora and fauna that long nurtured them. Species that can migrate have begun to move into regions where temperatures and humidity are more hospitable. And that can prove a conundrum for officials charged with halting the invasion of non-native species, notes Jon Jarvis, a biologist who for the past year has headed the National Park Service.
- Tech
Robots can use coffee as a picker-upper
A gripper made of a bag of loose grains has advantages over grasping devices that use individual digits.
- Paleontology
India yields fossil trove in amber
Insect remains suggest the continent hosted a surprisingly wide variety of creatures 50 million years ago.
- Humans
Should health care workers be required to get flu vaccinations?
Mandatory policies increase participation at some hospitals, but are still disputed by unions and some staffers.
- Humans
GNP’s glaciers: Going, going . . .
Climate warming will eliminate them within a generation, data indicate.
