All Stories
- Physics
Monitoring radiation with Britney Spears?
Compact disks can serve as home radon detectors.
By Janet Raloff - Animals
Sumo wrestling keeps big ants in line
In a Malaysian ant species, the large workers establish a hierarchy by engaging in spectacular shaking contests.
By Susan Milius - Earth
Satellites show Earth is greener
Daily observations from space for nearly 2 decades indicate that our planet is getting greener.
By Sid Perkins -
19260
Lowered melatonin secretion was an implied factor in the 35 percent increase in colon cancer among night shift nurses, compared with their daytime counterparts. A couple of altered lifestyle factors may contribute, as well: The night shift is often occasion for a sedentary work style, and decreased alertness might even affect daytime activity. Also, there […]
By Science News - Earth
Second cancer type linked to shift work
Women who have worked at least a few nights a month for many years appear to face a somewhat increased risk of colorectal cancer.
By Janet Raloff - Anthropology
The Ultimate Colonists
Human ancestors managed to adjust to life in a variety of ecosystems during the Stone Age, indicating that their social lives were more complex than they've often been given credit for.
By Bruce Bower -
19259
Yes, trying to pin an actual date and time of the day to van Gogh’s painting is an intellectual exercise, but no one should believe this is possible. An artist plays with what’s seen. One only need look at van Gogh’s painting. Does the sky really have white streaks in it? No. So what makes […]
By Science News - Astronomy
Timing a Moonrise: Van Gogh painting put on the calendar
Astronomical detectives suggest that van Gogh painted the picture now known as "Moonrise" in 1889, capturing the rising moon as it appeared at 9:08 p.m. local mean time on July 13.
By Ron Cowen - Earth
Suspended Drugs: Antibiotics fed to animals drift in air
Borne on dust floating in and around farm buildings, antibiotics given to animals may later be inhaled by people—with possibly detrimental health effects.
By Ben Harder -
19258
Family members who perform the caregiver function usually pay a price because of the stresses involved. If “chronic adversity” is theorized to be the cause of a rise in a person’s IL-6, then questions for research include whether the IL-6 effect also applies to younger spouses and other family members, such as a child caring […]
By Science News -
Till IL-6 Do Us Part: Elderly caregivers show harmful immune effect
Elderly people caring for their incapacitated spouses experienced dramatic average increases in the blood concentration of a protein involved in immune regulation, a trend that puts them at risk for a variety of serious illnesses.
By Bruce Bower - Animals
Moonlighting: Beetles navigate by lunar polarity
A south African dung beetle is the first animal found to align its path by detecting the polarization of moonlight.
By Susan Milius