All Stories
- Earth
Geomagnetic field flip-flops in a flash
Rocks in Nevada preserve evidence of superfast changes in Earth’s magnetic polarity.
- Health & Medicine
Diabetes drug might fight cancer
A widely prescribed medication with few side effects shows promise in both mice and humans.
- Life
Feud over family ties in evolution
Prominent scientists dispute kinship’s role in self-sacrifice among highly social creatures.
- Health & Medicine
Alzheimer’s trade-off for mentally active seniors
Staying mentally active may delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease but may also prompt rapid cognitive decline once symptoms appear.
- Life
Hints of altruism among bacteria
E. coli bacteria fight antibiotics with help from drug-resistant neighbors.
- Health & Medicine
Ovary removal proves beneficial for cancer-prone women
BRCA mutation carriers who opt for surgery survive longer than those who forgo the operation, a new study shows.
- Life
Why starved flies need less sleep
Low lipid levels keep the insects buzzing past bedtime, a new study finds, suggesting a role for metabolism in regulating sleep.
- Tech
Tar sands ‘fingerprint’ seen in rivers and snow
A new study refutes a government claim (one echoed by industry) that the gonzo-scale extraction of tar sands in western Canada — and their processing into crude oil — does not substantially pollute the environment.
- Health & Medicine
Wheat genome announcement turns out to be small beer
The DNA sequence released by U.K. team still requires assembly.
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Neuroanatomy down on the farm
Researchers retreat to bucolic surroundings for brain cell-mapping competition.
- Space
Still no Earths, but getting closer
Two newly discovered planetary systems shed light on the likelihood of producing terrestrial planets.
- Climate
Academies recommend that IPCC make changes
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an authoritative scientific organization set up in 1989 to assess climate science, took some heat today from a group that it commissioned to investigate its credibility. The oversight group reported findings procedural weaknesses that preclude IPCC from responding nimbly to events — or from reliably identifying errors in its assessments.
