News

Earth

Lead’s a moving target at rifle ranges

The lead used in bullets and shotgun pellets can be a threat to the environment near rifle ranges but many of its hazards are manageable.

Physics

Spinning Earth drags space

Slight deviations of two Earth-circling satellites from their expected orbits appear to confirm a curious prediction from Einstein's relativity theory.

Chemistry

Cleaning up anthrax

Chemists have developed catalysts that spur common oxidants to quickly destroy germs, including deadly anthrax spores.

Astronomy

Belt Tightening: Icy orbs are surprisingly small

Objects in the distant reservoir of comets known as the Kuiper belt are intrinsically much brighter, and therefore smaller, than previously thought.

Health & Medicine

Lingering Loss: In 2-year diet trial, new pill keeps off weight

Obese adults who lose weight during a year of taking an experimental diet drug, rimonabant, and dieting keep the weight off during the following year, if they continue the regimen.

Health & Medicine

Problems for Preemies: Early birth is linked to insulin overproduction

Children born prematurely are more likely than their full-term counterparts to develop insulin resistance, a marker for diabetes.

Tech

Lighthearted Transistor: Electronic workhorse moonlights as laser

A versatile new transistor amplifies electricity and emits a laser beam.

Chemistry

Busy Beads: Magnetic dust takes droplets for a ride

With a bit of dust and a magnet, chemists can shuttle drops around on a surface, an advance that could lead to chemistry labs on a chip.

Materials Science

New lithium battery design charges up

Researchers have developed a new, safer type of electrode for lithium batteries.

Materials Science

A hard new material with a soft touch

Adding exotic substances called quasicrystals to polymers creates nonabrasive hard materials, which could soon serve as coatings in machine parts.