Feature
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The Social Net
New studies explore the nature of social interactions on the Internet, from online corporate work groups to white supremacist chat rooms.
- Astronomy
Dusty Disks May Reveal Hidden Worlds
Images of gaps, rings, arcs, warps, and clumps in disks of dusty debris surrounding nearby stars are providing new clues about the nature of planets that lie beyond the solar system.
- Animals
Rebranding the Hyena
Zoologists are hoping that long-term ecological studies of the spotted hyena will assist in dispelling the animal's undeservedly bad reputation.
- Health & Medicine
Mammograms on Trial
New controversy about old data has physicians, women, and policy analysts struggling to decide whether all women should be screened with mammography in order to reduce deaths due to breast cancer.
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- Ecosystems
Deprived of Darkness
From anecdotal reports of little-studied phenomena, researchers suspect that artificial night lighting disrupts the physiology and behavior of nocturnal animals.
- Earth
Stemming the Tide
New approaches to stopping the introduction by ships of invasive species to North American waters are beginning to show promise but have a long way to go.
- Chemistry
The True Sweet Science
New techniques and tools are helping scientists elucidate the roles that complex sugars play in the human body and in drug manufacturing.
- Health & Medicine
Aerial War against Disease
Researchers around the world are catching on to the idea of using satellites to predict where diseases may strike.
- Math
Guessing Secrets
Analyzing an intriguing variant of the familiar game of 20 questions provides insights into Internet communication.
- Animals
Lemonade from Broken Amber
The fossilized microbes found inside termites that have been encased in amber for 20 million years are remarkably similar to those found within the ancient insects' modern cousins.
- Tech
Taming High-Tech Particles
Researchers are beginning to study whether nanomaterials could have unintended negative consequences in the human body or the environment.
