News
- Animals
Turtle Trekkers: Atlantic leatherbacks scatter widely
Satellite monitoring of leatherback turtles in the Atlantic show that these animals range widely instead of sticking to "turtle corridors."
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Gender Neutral: Men, women face same cancer risk from smoking
Women who smoke are no more susceptible to lung cancer than are male smokers.
By Nathan Seppa - Earth
Geyser Bashing: Distant quake alters timing of eruptions
A powerful earthquake that struck central Alaska on Nov. 3, 2002, changed the eruption schedule of some geysers in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park, more than 3,100 kilometers away.
By Sid Perkins -
Death Waits for No One: Deferred demises take a couple of hits
Two new reports challenge the idea that elderly people suffering from serious physical illnesses can prolong their lives just long enough to experience a personally meaningful event.
By Bruce Bower - Tech
Tiny Tubes Brighten Bulbs: Nanotubes beat tungsten in lightbulb test—maybe
Experiments suggest that lightbulbs with filaments made from carbon nanotubes outshine conventional bulbs.
By Peter Weiss - Tech
Protein Power: Solar cell produces electricity from spinach and bacterial proteins
Researchers have fabricated a solar cell that uses photosynthetic proteins to convert light into electricity.
- Astronomy
Young World: NASA telescope reveals clues to newborn planet
Astronomers have found signs of what may be the youngest planet known, plus the first signs ever of organic compounds in a region of dust that could evolve into a planet-forming region.
By Carrie Lock - Astronomy
Huge solar flares hit far-flung craft
Spacecraft throughout the solar system have detected material spewed into space by a group of huge solar flares late last year.
By Sid Perkins - Humans
Simple water filter can nail arsenic
Field tests suggest that people who live in areas with arsenic-tainted aquifers may be able to purify their drinking water by passing it through a low-tech, low-cost filter that includes a bed of iron nails.
By Sid Perkins - Earth
Killer weather on Mount Everest
An analysis of weather patterns around Mount Everest in May 1996, when eight climbers died, suggests that a sudden drop in barometric pressure may have played a significant role in the deaths.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
Breast milk may lower cholesterol
Feeding a newborn baby breast milk instead of formula during the first month of life improves the child's cholesterol readings later on.
By Nathan Seppa - Astronomy
Oddball asteroid
Astronomers have discovered an asteroid that takes only 6 months to go around the sun.
By Ron Cowen