All Stories
- Space
Astronomers stoke cosmic debate
Astronomers from the United Kingdom have published papers criticizing some of the evidence used to support theories of dark matter and energy.
- Space
Kepler craft reports apparent planetary bonanza
New results from an orbiting telescope promise to more than double the number of known extrasolar planets.
- Health & Medicine
Vitamin B6 linked to lowered lung cancer risk
High levels of folate and the amino acid methionine also seem to help, a new study finds.
- Earth
Loop Current will determine spill’s ultimate fate
Oceanographers track a newly formed eddy in the Gulf of Mexico and where it might carry oil.
- Science & Society
Citation inflation
Many journals – and the authors who publish their novel data and analyses in them – rely on “impact factors” as a gauge of the importance and prestige of their work. However, a new analysis turns up subtle ways that journals can game the system to artificially inflate their impact factor.
- Earth
Planes can trigger snowfall
Under certain conditions, aircraft can trigger precipitation as they pass through moisture-laden clouds.
- Life
Forget mice, elephants intimidated by ants
Swarms of little nuisances have an outsized effect on who nibbles which trees in the African savanna.
- Health & Medicine
H1N1 virus lacks Spanish flu’s killer protein
Researchers uncover a deadly secret of Spanish flu.
- Health & Medicine
Different berries, similar cancer-fighting effects
Animal tests suggest that esophageal and breast cancer might make good targets for several types of berries as dietary supplements.
- Humans
Crude pick-ups
To date, 400 skimmers have retrieved some 18 million gallons of oiled water from the BP Gulf spill, according to Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen during a June 11 press briefing. After removing the entrained water, this translates to between 1.8 million and 2.7 million gallons of crude oil. Another 3.8 million gallons of oil have been burned at sea. Four million gallons more have been collected through a near-mile-long riser tube and a containment cap fitted over the broken Deepwater Horizon wellhead.
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Hayabusa asteroid sample return mission lands in Australia
Capsule recovered, scientists will soon know what the probe collected.
- Humans
First Mexican-American and African-American genomes completed
Studies hint that genetic diversity among Native Americans may rival that seen in some African populations.
