All Stories
- Planetary Science
Red Planet Roundup: Opportunity knocks; Spirit revives
The NASA rover Opportunity bounced onto an equatorial Martian plain early on Jan. 25 and found an intriguing outcropping of rocks on the other side of the planet from where its ailing but recovering twin, Spirit, had recently stalled.
By Ron Cowen -
- Health & Medicine
Bacteria Brew a B Vitamin Boost
When looking for naturally rich sources of cobalamin, better known as vitamin B12, most people turn to meats. Because the essential nutrient generally isn’t present in plants, vegetarians run the risk of deficiency, which can cause neurological symptoms from tingling toes to disorientation and memory problems. Many of these people therefore turn to synthetic supplements […]
By Janet Raloff - Materials Science
Flexible E-Paper: Plastic circuits drive paperlike displays
In a major step toward electronic paper, researchers have made electronic-ink displays on flexible plastic sheets.
- Physics
Skipping stones 101
Using their own stone-skipping machine, physicists have found what may be the best angle for a rock to hit the water in order to achieve the most skips.
By Peter Weiss -
Juggling takes stage as brain modifier
Marked volume increases occur in visual areas of the brain as people learn to juggle and then are partly reversed when the budding jugglers stop practicing their newfound skill, a brain-scan investigation finds.
By Bruce Bower - Physics
New signs of shadow particles
The influence of as-yet-undiscovered heavy particles outside of today's prevailing theory of particle physics may have accelerated the rate at which subatomic muons wobbled in a recent experiment.
By Peter Weiss -
Growth factors make an egg grow up
Scientists have identified growth factors that enable a female mammal's eggs to mature.
By John Travis - Astronomy
Scoping out a stellar nursery
Penetrating a veil of dust, a space-based infrared observatory has recorded the most complete portrait ever taken of a star-forming region in a nearby galaxy.
By Ron Cowen - Health & Medicine
Vitamin D and multiple sclerosis
Women who consume little vitamin D develop multiple sclerosis at a rate about 50 percent higher than those who get lots of the nutrient.
- Archaeology
Lion skeleton found in Egyptian tomb
Archaeologists found the skeleton of a once-mummified lion at an Egyptian site dating to more than 2,000 years ago, confirming suspicions that lions were revered as sacred animals.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Drug fails in autism study
In the most extensive test so far of its capability to treat autism, the controversial drug secretin has failed to help children with the neurological disorder.
By John Travis