News

  1. Astronomy

    Planet Signs? Sifting a dusty disk

    Infrared spectra of a disk of debris surrounding the young star Beta Pictoris reveals three distinct bands of dust, suggesting the location of a possible planet flanked by belts of asteroids or comets.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Carotid Overhaul: Stents and surgery go neck and neck

    Mesh cylinders called stents work as well as or slightly better than surgery in opening blocked carotid arteries in high-risk patients.

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  3. Earth

    Global warming won’t boost carbon storage in tundra

    The notion that a warmer climate in arctic regions will lead to enhanced carbon sequestration in tundra ecosystems isn't supported by field data.

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  4. Physics

    Hurrying a nuclear identity switch

    Radioactive beryllium-7 atoms locked inside molecular cages decay extraordinarily quickly.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Turmeric component kills cancer cells

    Curcumin, the component of turmeric that makes the spice yellow, shows anticancer effects in lab-dish tests and in experiments on mice.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Fighting cholesterol with saturated fat?

    Marrying a saturated fat to the plant-derived ingredient in certain health-promoting margarines creates an especially potent cholesterol-lowering food additive.

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  7. Car deaths rise days after terror attacks

    A spike in automobile fatalities in Israel 3 days after each of a recent series of terrorist attacks reflects a delayed, population-wide reaction to those violent incidents, two researchers propose.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    Adopted protein might be MS culprit

    A protein called syncytin might play a role in causing degradation of the fatty myelin sheath that insulates nerves, damage that leads to multiple sclerosis.

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  9. Astronomy

    More space sugar

    Astronomers have found a second, colder source of the simple sugar glycoaldehyde in a dust and gas cloud 26,000 light-years from Earth.

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  10. Pinpointing Poachers: Gene sleuths map illicit elephant kills

    A new, genetics-based technique for determining ivory's place of origin is geographically precise enough to aid forensic pursuit of African elephant poachers.

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  11. Two-Headed Memories: Collaboration gives recall lift to elderly

    Collaboration with a spouse improves the accuracy of older people's memories on tasks such as remembering items on a shopping list or identifying familiar landmarks on a local map.

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  12. Animals

    Beat Goes On: Carp heart keeps pace when fish lacks oxygen

    Without oxygen, a Scandinavian fish not only can survive but also maintains a normal heartbeat for days.

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