News
- Health & Medicine
Nicotine’s Good Side: Substance curbs sepsis in mice
Nicotine halted the progression of severe sepsis in mice, suggesting a new avenue for treating this acute blood infection.
- Planetary Science
Titanic Close-up: Cassini eyes Saturn’s big moon
Using radar to penetrate the thick haze surrounding Saturn's moon Titan, the Cassini spacecraft has found evidence that the moon's surface is coated with hydrocarbons and dark patches that might be lakes of ethane or methane.
By Ron Cowen - Health & Medicine
High-fat diets slim down learning
High-fat diets decrease the ability of male rats to learn and remember.
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Oxygen deficit linked to ADHD
Sleep apnea may be a risk factor for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
- Health & Medicine
Drug abuse could be an occupational hazard
Breathing minuscule amounts of painkillers administered to patients in surgery may increase an anesthesiologist's risk of abusing prescription drugs.
- Health & Medicine
Acne drug affects brain function
The antiacne drug Accutane may decrease activity in a part of the brain that regulates mood.
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Summer births linked to schizophrenia
People who develop a severe form of schizophrenia are strikingly likely to have been born in June or July, raising the possibility that seasonal influences on early brain development contribute to this disorder.
By Bruce Bower -
Brain-based help for adults with dyslexia
Intensive phonics instruction for adults with dyslexia yields brain changes that underlie their improved reading ability.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Malaria vaccine shows promise in Mozambique
An experimental malaria vaccine tested on children in Mozambique provides some protection against the potentially life-threatening disease.
By Nathan Seppa - Paleontology
Irish elk survived after ice age ended
New fossil finds indicate that the so-called Irish elk, previously thought to have died out at the end of the last ice age, survived in some spots for several millennia more.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
Prescription for Trouble: Antidepressants might rewire young brains
Young mice exposed to a common type of antidepressant, known as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), showed symptoms of anxiety and depression in adulthood.
- Earth
Fighting Water with Water: To lift the city, pump the sea beneath Venice
With technology commonly used in oil fields, engineers could inject large volumes of seawater into sandy strata deep beneath Venice, Italy, to reverse the ground subsidence that plagues the city.
By Sid Perkins