News
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Flies ‘R’ Us: Fruit fly cells mimic the mammalian pancreas
A new study suggests that the common fruit fly has cells that function much as those in the human pancreas do.
- Materials Science
Nanotech Goes to New Lengths: Scientists create ultralong carbon nanotubes
In an advance toward making superstrong fibers, chemists have synthesized a 4-centimeter-long carbon nanotube, the longest nanotube reported to date.
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Mothering Malnutrition: Moms’ depression weighs on infants in Pakistan
Maternal depression critically contributes to malnutrition-related health problems among infants in rural Pakistan.
By Bruce Bower - Astronomy
Sky Lights: Picture might show an extrasolar planet
A faint point of red light may be the first picture ever taken of a planet outside the solar system.
By Ron Cowen -
Staph bacteria are choosy about their iron source
Staphylococcus bacteria prefer to get their iron from heme, the ring-shaped portion of oxygen-carrying proteins such as hemoglobin.
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Nature reduces kids’ signs of attention disorder
Spending leisure time amid greenery rather than in built-up environments appears to improve behavior in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
By Ben Harder - Plants
A new, slimy method of self-pollination
When all else fails for pollination, a Chinese herb in the ginger family resorts to something botanists say they haven't seen before: a do-it-yourself oil slick.
By Susan Milius - Astronomy
Crashing Genesis
Scientists are trying to salvage the fragile samples of the solar wind collected by the Genesis spacecraft, which crashed to Earth on Sept. 8 after its parachutes failed to open.
By Ron Cowen - Anthropology
Human ancestor gets leg up on walking
A new analysis of a 6-million-year-old leg fossil from a member of the human evolutionary family indicates that this individual walked upright with nearly the same deftness as people today do.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Liver transplants succeed in many hepatitis C patients
People who receive liver transplants for hepatitis C infections fare about as well as people getting such transplants for other diseases.
By Nathan Seppa - Astronomy
Beryllium data confirm stars’ age
Measuring trace amounts of beryllium in two elderly stars, astronomers have found additional evidence that the first stars in the universe formed less than 200 million years after the Big Bang.
By Ron Cowen -
The woman who lost her capacity to dream
A rare instance in which brain damage caused a woman to lose the ability to dream may help scientists understand the neural basis of dreaming.
By Bruce Bower