Feature

  1. Health & Medicine

    The Science of Secretin

    The discovery that a gut hormone also exists in the brain may shed light on the origins of autism.

    By John Travis
  2. Health & Medicine

    Trans Fats

    Increasing evidence links trans fats to health problems, and some researchers are looking for ways to reduce the fats in food.

    By Jessica Gorman
  3. Health & Medicine

    The Seeds of Malaria

    By studying the molecular footprints of evolution in parasites and human hosts, geneticists are casting light on when and how malaria became the menace it is.

    By Ben Harder
  4. Health & Medicine

    Attacking Alzheimer’s

    Some researchers now suggest that the so-called amyloid hypothesis is overstated and that other entities, including tau tangles, are as important as beta-amyloid in Alzheimer's disease.

    By Damaris Christensen
  5. Health & Medicine

    Brain Food

    New food labeling will identify foods rich in choline, a nutrient that plays an integral role in learning and brain health.

    By Janet Raloff

  6. Plight of the Untouchables

    Stigma's largely unexplored effects on the health of people sufering from ailments ranging from AIDS to schizophrenia attracted much interest at a recent conference.

    By Bruce Bower
  7. Plants

    Torn to Ribbons in the Desert

    Botanists puzzle over one of Earth's oddest plants: the remarkably scraggly Welwitschia of southwestern Africa.

    By Susan Milius

  8. Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow?

    Some scientists suggest that a better understanding of hair biology might not only lead to new treatments for people with too little (or too much) hair but also shed light on cancer, the growth and development of bodily organs, and other matters.

    By Damaris Christensen

  9. Dolly Was Lucky

    Scientists studying the data on animal cloning argue that cloning a person would be unsafe.

    By John Travis
  10. Chemistry

    Burned by Flame Retardants?

    One particular class of flame retardants—polybrominated diphenyl ethers—is accumulating at alarming rates in the environment, taints human breast milk, and has toxic effects similar to the now-banned PCBs.

    By Charlotte Schubert

  11. Special Sleep Issue : PDF Download page

    All files are saved as PDFs.  Please download Adobe’s Acrobat Reader to view these files. Sleep Special : Complete PackageHigh Quality (17MB) | Low Quality (2MB) The Why of sleep (Tina Hesman Saey) / All Kinds of Tired (Susan Milius)High Quality (6.7MB) | Low Quality (1.1MB) Sleep gone awry (Laura Sanders)High Quality (2.5MB) | Low […]

    By Science News
  12. Astronomy

    A Cosmic Crisis?

    Astronomers appear to have a heavenly crisis on their hands, and it concerns material they can't even detect.

    By Ron Cowen