All Stories
- Materials Science
New gel could lead to cartilage repair
A new scaffold material that contains cartilage cells and encourages their growth could help scientists create living tissue replacements suitable for treating osteoarthritis and sports injuries.
- Materials Science
Gems of War
While international bodies grapple with regulatory schemes to stem the diamond trade that funds ongoing civil conflicts in African countries, scientists are attempting to develop methods for identifying gems from conflict zones.
- Tech
Shrinking toward the Ultimate Transistor
Scientists demonstrate transistor action in an atom—or two.
- Humans
From the August 6, 1932, issue
WEIRD STINK-BUG PARENTS PRODUCE CURIOUS EGGS “Like parent, like child,” is one of the oldest and best-known folk-proverbs. It holds outside the human realm, too. For instance, the pair of stink-bugs which Cornelia Clarke’s magnifying camera lens caught for the cover of this issue of the Science News Letter are weird enough little monsters, in […]
- Health & Medicine
Obesity and Genetics
Studies show that genes are a significant factor in developing obesity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide an online guide to the problem of obesity and insights into current research on the genetics of obesity. Go to: http://www.cdc.gov/genomics/training/perspectives/obesity.htm
- Animals
Hyena androgens exact high cost
Blocking androgens for spotted hyenas before they're born shows that the exposure of a female fetus to male hormones normally takes a heavy physical toll when females bear their own pups.
- Animals
Deer littermates have different dads
Twin fawns may not have the same dad—the first time multiple paternity has turned up in a large, free-ranging hoofed mammal.
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Other species recognize the different meanings in dogs’ barks, as well. I lived for several years next to a wonderful habitat for ducks. I fed the ducks cracked corn, and my Doberman pinscher would call them. The ducks only came to his “The human has food” bark. They didn’t respond to the “I hate bicycles” […]
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Barks are more than just “Hey, you!”
Computer analysis of thousands of dog barks suggests that our best friends may be signaling more than just a generalized "Hey you!"
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Such jokers, those Komodo dragons
A study of a young Komodo dragon reveals what a behaviorist says would be considered play if seen in a dog or cat.
- Health & Medicine
Surprise! Obesity (and Inactivity) Can Spur Cancers
Some 60 percent of U.S. adults say they’re worried at the prospect of developing cancer, yet only 6 percent recognize that being overweight is a leading predisposing factor. That’s one finding from a June survey, commissioned by the American Institute for Cancer Research in Washington, D.C. The survey was unveiled on July 11 at a […]
- Plants
Bleeding Trees: Microbial suspect named in beech deaths
A microbe related to the one that caused the Irish potato famine may be killing majestic old beech trees in the northeastern United States.
