All Stories
- Tech
Diagnostic gadget mixes and matches all in one
Researchers have fabricated a miniature diagnostic lab that can detect disease-linked genes in a small sample of whole blood.
- Humans
Plan B ruling is prescription for controversy
Contravening a recent recommendation from one of its advisory panels, the Food and Drug Administration denied an application to make the emergency contraceptive known as Plan B available without a doctor's prescription.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Nanoparticles could mark spots for surgery
A new molecule studded with magnetically active ions may soon help surgeons extract, with minimal cutting, lymph nodes likely to harbor cancer.
By Ben Harder - Earth
Boats puff up outdoor carbon monoxide risk
Large congregations of motorboats can produce enough carbon monoxide gas in open air to be hazardous to people.
By Ben Harder - Humans
Historical chemistry library wows scholars
A new library in Philadelphia is home to one of the world's most extensive and valuable collections of historical chemistry texts.
- Anthropology
Neandertals may have grown up quickly
A new analysis of fossil teeth indicates that Neandertals grew to maturity at a faster pace than people do.
By Bruce Bower -
Nicotine limits cold adaptation
A new study homes in on why smokers may have a harder time staying warm in frigid environments.
By Janet Raloff - Physics
After 40-year prep, gravity test soars
The Gravity Probe B satellite, which was built to test aspects of general relativity, finally hurtled into space.
By Peter Weiss -
19417
While reading about the amazing properties of Archimedes’ Stomachion, I wondered whether a mere child’s toy would exhibit such mathematical precision, with each vertex falling on a lattice point of a 12-by-12 grid. Perhaps Archimedes took the basic plan of the toy and tweaked it to see what properties he could induce. Jeffry D. MuellerEldersburg, […]
By Science News - Math
Glimpses of Genius
By studying a puzzle that Archimedes pondered 2,200 years ago, mathematicians are obtaining new insights into its intriguing geometric structure.
- Physics
The Rise of Antibubbles
Tiny globules of water enclosed by thin shells of air in water that look like bubbles but don't act like them have recently become the objects of serious study.
By Peter Weiss - Math
Extra Time, Math, and the SAT
Extra time on the math portion of the SAT helps the most able students the most.