All Stories

  1. Astronomy

    Big, Bigger . . . Biggest?

    Galaxy map reveals the limits of cosmic structure.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Body wraps caused rash of rashes

    A CDC investigator has linked an outbreak of skin infections to unsanitary practices at a body wrap salon.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Transfusions and transplants spread West Nile virus

    Donated blood and organs should be screened to prevent transmission of West Nile virus, federal officials say.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Africa faces new meningitis threat

    A vaccine-resistant and previously rare strain of deadly bacteria caused an epidemic of meningitis last year in western Africa and seems to have disseminated around the world.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Vaccine didn’t cause heart deaths

    Fatal heart attacks that recently struck two people after they were vaccinated against smallpox were probably unfortunate coincidences, not adverse consequences of vaccination.

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  6. Physics

    Fusion device crosses threshold

    By sparking thermonuclear reactions, a machine called Z has joined the big leagues among potential technologies for producing power from controlled nuclear fusion.

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  7. Astronomy

    Echoes of a stellar outburst

    Light from the outburst of a star has revealed its dusty surroundings.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Shots stop allergic reactions to venom

    An immune therapy prevents allergic reactions to the sting of the jack jumper ant, a pest common to Australia.

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  9. Physics

    Light rambles through room-temperature ruby

    Researchers have dramatically slowed light within a solid at room temperature.

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  10. Words Get in the Way

    New studies explore people's tendency to have trouble recalling faces or other hard-to-describe perceptions after giving verbal accounts of them, with an eye toward improving police interviewing techniques with crime eyewitnesses.

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  11. Happy Anniversary

    In the 50 years since the discovery of DNA's double helix structure, scientists have developed striking new ways to visualize the molecule.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Homing In on Ephedra’s Risks

    On Feb. 16, pitcher Steve Bechler of the Baltimore Orioles collapsed while running sprints at the team’s spring-training camp in Florida. He died a few hours later. Subsequent investigation linked the 23-year-old player’s apparent heatstroke with a popular diet aid containing both caffeine and ephedra, a botanical product rich in other natural stimulants. Ephedra plant. […]

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