All Stories
- Astronomy
Alien stars pass close to home
Stars from an alien galaxy are raining down on our own Milky Way and passing just a few hundred light-years from Earth.
By Ron Cowen - Health & Medicine
Nanoparticles hunt down and kill tumors
Gold nanoparticles, injected into mouse tumors and exposed to light, have been found to destroy cancer cells, a treatment approach that may one day offer an alternative to surgery.
- Physics
Hints emerge of a four-quark particle
Previously observed only in twos, threes, and perhaps in fives, quarks and antiquarks in a newfound particle may have glommed together to form a never-before-seen foursome.
By Peter Weiss - Health & Medicine
Discovery of Insulin
In 1923, the Nobel Prize in Medicine went to Frederick Banting and J.J.R. Macleod for their part in the discovery of insulin. This site documents that discovery and the initial development of insulin to alleviate suffering from diabetes. Part of the University of Toronto Libraries’ digital collection, the site features more than 7,000 images, reproducing […]
By Science News -
19363
This article speculated on the evolutionary origins of thermogenesis and observed how it predominates in ancient lineages of flowering plants like magnolias and water lilies. But thermogenesis goes back much farther than this, for it also occurs in cycads, nonflowering plants that arose in the Paleozoic. The male cones of some cycads, when mature, may […]
By Science News - Plants
Warm-Blooded Plants?
Research heats up on why some flowers have the chemistry to keep themselves warm.
By Susan Milius -
19291
This article describes attempts to use ketones as a substitute for glucose when it’s unavailable to the brain because converted fats can’t penetrate the brain. Wouldn’t it be simpler to feed or inject glucose directly? Oliver H. WinnCorona del Mar, Calif. The researchers who conducted the study say that giving glucose might help in some […]
By Science News - Health & Medicine
Ketones to the Rescue
Medical researchers are investigating a slew of possible applications for acids called ketones, which the body produces naturally when deprived of carbohydrates and protein.
By Ben Harder - Math
Megaprime Champion
The catalog of humongous prime numbers has a new entry–the champion prime (220996011 – 1), which has 6,320,430 decimal digits. It’s the largest known prime number and the 40th Mersenne prime ever found. A prime is a whole number (other than 1) that is evenly divisible by only itself and 1. Written in the form […]
- Earth
Leaden Gardens
Soils in many cities of the United States carry a poisonous legacy: heavy concentrations of lead. The metal was deposited for years as fallout from flaking leaded house paint and the emissions of cars burning leaded gasoline. Recognizing the threat posed by tainted soil, environmental scientists have warned that growing edible plants in soils near […]
By Janet Raloff - Humans
From the December 2, 1933, issue
SCIENTISTS UNLEASH LARGEST ATOM-ATTACKING MACHINE Seven million volts, mans closest approach to the voltage of natures lightning, flashed across the gigantic ball terminals of sciences greatest generator, erected by Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicists in Col. E.H.R. Greens airship hangar at Round Hill, Mass., and operated Tuesday for the first time at so great an […]
By Science News - Physics
Particle Interactions
The world’s leading particle physics laboratories have collaborated to provide a one-stop online resource for communicating research in the world of particle physics. Updated daily, the site provides news stories, science policy papers, conference information, and much more. An image bank contains photos and illustrations showing accelerators, detectors, particle collisions, historical events, aerial views, and […]
By Science News