All Stories

  1. Chemistry

    Tarantula venom disrupts cells in unexpected way

    The unusual way in which the chemical components of tarantula venom disrupt cells could inspire the design of new drug therapies.

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  2. Archaeology

    Seeds of agriculture move back in time

    Excavations in Israel indicate that people began to eat large quantities of wild grass seeds and wild cereal grains by around 23,000 years ago, which pushes back by 10,000 years the estimated shift to a plant-rich diet.

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  3. Astronomy

    Two newly found space molecules

    Researchers have detected two new organic chemicals in a large interstellar cloud.

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  4. Math

    Generous Players

    Game theory is helping to explain how cooperation and other self-sacrificing behaviors fit into natural selection.

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  5. 19445

    The cover type “Farewell to Hubble?” makes me wonder why we haven’t seen the headline “Farewell to the Current NASA Administrator?” The only reason I have heard for the cancellation of the planned servicing mission is “it’s too dangerous.” Almost anything worth accomplishing has some degree of danger associated with it. The administrator is just […]

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  6. Astronomy

    End of the Line for Hubble?

    With a space shuttle mission to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope now canceled, astronomers are pondering how to best use the flying observatory during its final years.

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  7. Math

    Waring Experiments

    Expressing integers as the sums of squares or other powers has a long history.

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  8. Humans

    From the July 14, 1934, issue

    Desert plants cope with permanent drought, study of twins gives clues to epilepsy, and airplanes collect weather information in flight.

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  9. Animals

    Sparrows Cheat on Sleep: Migratory birds are up at night but still stay sharp

    During their fall migration season, white-crowned sparrows sleep only about a third as much as they do at other times of the year without becoming slow-witted.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Leukemia Fighter: Drug could combat resistant cases

    A new drug for treating chronic myeloid leukemia that is resistant to the frontline drug imatinib shows promise in mouse tests.

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  11. Physics

    Feel the Force: Magnetic probe finds lone electron

    Scientists have observed a single electron's magnetism.

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  12. Chemistry

    Nitrogen Power: New crystal packs a lot of punch

    At extremely high temperatures and pressures, nitrogen gas assumes a three-dimensional crystal structure called polymeric nitrogen, a long-sought energy-storage material.

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