All Stories
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Mathematics by collaboration
The Polymath project harnesses the power of the Internet to use massive collaboration to solve a major problem in record time
- Psychology
Depression medication may offer mood lift via personality shift
A new study suggests that commonly used antidepressants may work after first altering personality traits.
- Chemistry
Batteries made from nanotubes … and paper
Scientists have made batteries and supercapacitors with little more than ordinary office paper and some carbon and silver nanomaterials.
- Climate
EPA: Greenhouse gases still endanger health
In April, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that based on its reading of the science, greenhouse gases threaten public health. Since then, the public and legions of interest groups have weighed in on the subject, shooting EPA some 380,000 separate comments. “After a thorough examination of the scientific evidence and careful consideration of public comments on the ruling,” EPA today reiterated its so-called “endangerment” assessment of greenhouse gases
- Life
Bacteria seen swimming the electron shuffle
Researchers have captured the bacterium Shewanella’s behavior on film, and the microbes didn’t behave as expected
- Climate
Newspapers issue strong warning on climate
SN senior editor Janet Raloff blogs from Hamburg, Germany, before going to Copenhagen to attend the climate talks.
- Health & Medicine
H1N1 hits sickle cell kids hard
Cases particularly acute in children with the chronic blood condition.
- Health & Medicine
Patients deficient in vitamin D fare worse in battle with lymphoma
A new study suggests that the sunshine vitamin may play protective role against common form of the blood cancer.
- Earth
Countering Copenhagen’s Carbon Footprint
The United Nations’ Climate Change Conference, beginning Monday (Dec. 7), will draw legions of people to Copenhagen from 192 countries. Traveling to Denmark — sometimes from the far corners of the Earth — will expend huge amounts of energy. And spew plenty of the very carbon dioxide that the meeting negotiators are trying to rein in. So several bodies will be offsetting the carbon footprint of this gathering — with bricks. Or brick ovens, anyway.
- Planetary Science
Pluto’s cloud components verified
Newly analyzed observations suggest that particles are tiny spherules of frozen nitrogen and carbon monoxide.
- Physics
Chink found in armor of perfect cloak
A theoretical perfect cloaking device could be foiled using charged particles, a new study suggests.
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Trawling the brain
New findings raise questions about reliability of fMRI as gauge of neural activity.
