Feature
- 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.
- Materials Science
Microbial Materials
Microorganisms can be coaxed into producing high-tech components and can themselves serve as valuable ingredients in new classes of materials.
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- Astronomy
Mystery in the Middle
The Milky Way's core is loaded with seemingly young stars, which have no business being there.
- Health & Medicine
Target: Celiac Disease
With the aim of releasing people with celiac disease from a strict, lifelong diet that lacks the wheat protein gluten, researchers are working to identify molecular targets that could block the disease’s hallmark, the degeneration of the lining of the small intestine.
- Earth
Oceans Aswirl
Whirls of ocean water up to hundreds of kilometers across create biological oases, transport heat from tropical climes to cooler latitudes, and affect everything from offshore oil platforms to long-distance yacht races.
- Math
If It Looks Like a Sphere…
A Russian mathematician has proposed a proof of the Poincaré conjecture, a question about the shapes of three-dimensional spaces.
- Chemistry
Danger Detection
Analytical chemists are exploring ways to improve chemical and biological weapons detection.
- Health & Medicine
Herbal Lottery
Many herbal-product makers aren't maintaining adequate quality control, prompting the Food and Drug Administration to propose rules that mandate good manufacturing practices.
- Physics
Reflections on Art
By dissecting famous paintings in new ways, scientists are testing the veracity of artist David Hockney's controversial theory that some masters of Renaissance art secretly used optical projection devices.
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Gut Check
The normal microbial inhabitants of our intestines do a lot for their host.
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Repeat After Me
New research suggests that the ability to infer the thoughts and feelings of others grows out of a capacity for imitation exhibited by human infants and perhaps by other animals, as well.
