All Stories
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When autism aids memory
People with autism may often have a superior memory for factual details, possibly because of their inability to use context in remembering information.
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Looking for the brain’s g force
Controversial evidence suggests that a frontal-brain network underlies psychological measures of general intelligence.
- Astronomy
X-ray flare from a dim source
An X-ray flare coming from a old, failed star has surprised astronomers.
- Computing
Pictures Only a Computer Could Love
New, unconventional lenses shape scenes into pictures for computers, not people, so that computer-equipped microscopes, cameras, and other optical devices can see more with less.
- Astronomy
A comet’s chilly origin
Astronomers have detected argon in comet Hale-Bopp, the first time an inert gas has been found in one of these icy bodies and an indication that the comet formed in the frigid outer solar system between the orbits of Uranus and Neptune.
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- Math
Crediting Basketball’s Three-Pointers
The adoption of the three-point field goal in basketball changed the game. Initially, its impact was limited, but in recent years, shooting three-point baskets has had a significant effect on game strategy and outcome. Many sports fans can’t resist the lure of quantifying performance–ranking teams, rating players, and keeping various statistics. Now, statistician Thomas P. […]
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The understanding that traditional wisdom calls for detoxifying these legumes coupled with the fact that they are eaten nonetheless is indeed sad. The work of the agricultural scientists in making this staple safe to eat is vital. There is evident need for help from social science to get safe food practices accepted in the population. […]
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- Health & Medicine
Molecule may protect against kidney damage
People with a gene for the protein called apoE-IV are less likely to have the dangerous complication of kidney failure after a heart-bypass operation than are people who make other versions of the protein.
- Materials Science
A new carbon nanotool springs to life
Physicists have pulled out the inside cylinders of multiwall carbon nanotubes, as if expanding a telescope, indicating how the devices may serve as tiny bearings and springs in future nanomachines.
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This article contains a common misconception about the greenhouse effect. It states, “The newly detected gas is chemically similar to sulfur hexafluoride–another strong absorber of solar radiation . . .” (emphasis mine). While this statement may be true, it is irrelevant to the greenhouse efficiency of a gas. The mechanism of the greenhouse effect involves […]
