All Stories
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Health & MedicineGenome 10K: A new ark
Featured blog: Researchers are working to catalog the DNA sequences of just about every vertebrate genus.
By Janet Raloff -
SpaceGiant galaxy graveyard grows
The largest known galactic congregation is bigger than astronomers thought—and its inhabitants are all dead or dying.
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Health & MedicineVaccine may head off genital cancer in women
An experimental immunization can clear up premalignant growths caused by the human papillomavirus in some patients.
By Nathan Seppa -
EarthSmall earthquakes may not predict larger ones
Quakes far from tectonic plate boundaries may simply be aftershocks of ancient temblors.
By Sid Perkins -
AnimalsTextbook case of color-changing spider reopened
Female crab spiders switch colors to match flowers but may not fool their prey
By Susan Milius -
ClimateKyoto climate treaty’s greenhouse ‘success’
There are 33 days until the opening of formal negotiations in Copenhagen on the next global climate-protection treaty. The hoped-for accord would take up where the current treaty leaves off. But to get some perspective on just where that is, a new United Nations report describes for negotiators and the public just how much the Kyoto Protocol has achieved. And real strides have been made in slowing the growth of greenhouse-gas emissions, thanks to many European nations (albeit with little help from North American ones or Japan).
By Janet Raloff -
SpaceVolcanic and ferric surprises on Mercury
Volcanic activity is more recent than expected, MESSENGER shows on its third flyby of the planet. Also, surface iron occurs as oxides.
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SpaceNew way to help avoid a space shuttle disaster
A new technique to make shuttle launches safer combines tricks from particle colliders, moon landings and vulture tracking.
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ClimateMount Kilimanjaro could soon be bald
The world-renowned ice caps could disappear by 2022, new research suggests.
By Sid Perkins -
HumansH1N1 vaccine: Counting side effects
Pregnant women are considered at high risk for suffering complications or death from the new H1N1 pandemic swine flu. So they’re near the top of the list for getting vaccinated. A new international study calculates that up to 400 out of every million pregnant women who receive such swine-flu shots will experience a miscarriage within 24 hours. But not BECAUSE of their flu shots.
By Janet Raloff -
SpaceCosmic rays traced to centers of star birth
By detecting gamma rays, a new generation of telescopes bolsters theory that supernovas are origin of some cosmic rays
By Ron Cowen -
Health & MedicineHIV self-test proves accurate
Study in an ER shows individuals successfully determined their own HIV status.
By Nathan Seppa