All Stories
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NeuroscienceBrain waves in REM sleep help store memories
Mice with disturbed REM sleep show memory trouble.
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EarthRemnants from Earth’s birth linger 4.5 billion years later
Shaken, not stirred: Tungsten isotopes reveal that mantle convection has left some remnants of ancient Earth untouched for 4.5 billion years.
By Beth Geiger -
LifeGut microbe may challenge textbook on complex cells
Science may finally have found a complex eukaryote cell that has lost all of its mitochondria.
By Susan Milius -
Health & MedicineEarly work on human growth hormone paved way for synthetic versions
In 1966, researchers reported the complete chemical structure of human growth hormone. Today synthetic growth hormone is used to treat growth hormone deficiency.
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LifeHow to trap sperm
Lab-made beads can trick and trap sperm, potentially preventing pregnancy or selecting sperm for fertility treatments.
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Health & MedicineHealthiest weight just might be ‘overweight’
The body mass index tied to lowest risk of death has risen since the 1970s. It now falls squarely in the “overweight” category.
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Quantum PhysicsPhysicists smash particle imitators
A new quasiparticle collider smashes together the faux-particles that appear in solid materials.
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Health & MedicineMouse studies link Zika virus infection to microcephaly
Three new studies in mice shore up the link between microcephaly and Zika virus infection.
By Meghan Rosen -
Health & MedicineThis week in Zika: First mouse study proof that Zika causes microcephaly
Three new studies in mice shore up the link between microcephaly and Zika virus infection.
By Meghan Rosen -
AnimalsVultures are vulnerable to extinction
Life history makes vultures more vulnerable to extinction than other birds, a new study finds, but humankind’s poisons are helping them to their end.
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NeuroscienceSocial area of the brain sets threat level of animals
How people perceive an animal’s danger level is encoded in a particular wrinkle of cortex, a brain scan study suggests.
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Health & MedicineHeartburn drugs can damage cells that line blood vessels
A type of heartburn drugs called proton pump inhibitors may damage cells that line the blood vessels. The results, though controversial, hint at an explanation for PPI’s link to serious side effects, including risk of dementia and heart attack.
By Meghan Rosen