News
- Anthropology
Lucy’s kind takes humanlike turn
A new analysis of fossils from a more than 3-million-year-old species in the human evolutionary family reveals that the males were only moderately larger than the females, a finding that has implications for ancient social behavior.
- Earth
Digging for Fire: Burning peat underlies Mali’s hot ground
Superheated ground and smoking potholes in northern Mali are evidence not of volcanic activity but of a layer of peat that is burning 2 feet below the desert surface.
- Health & Medicine
DNA Differences Add Risk: Altered genes show up in Lou Gehrig’s disease
People with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are more likely than healthy people to have certain variations in the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene, suggesting variant VEGF contributes to the disease.
- Tech
Soft blow hardens Columbia-disaster theory
By blasting a gaping hole in a shuttle wing with a block of foam fired from a gun, a NASA investigative team appears to have confirmed the leading theory of what caused the Feb. 1 destruction of the space shuttle Columbia.
- Earth
More Than a Miner Problem: Asbestos exposure is prevalent in mining community
A new study of the residents of Libby, Mont., confirms that even people who don't work with asbestos can have lung abnormalities caused by the mineral.
- Earth
Double Trees: City trees grow bigger than country cousins
Clones of an Eastern cottonwood grow twice as well in the New York metropolitan sprawl as in rural New York State.
- Paleontology
Secrets of Dung: Ancient poop yields nuclear DNA
Researchers have extracted remnants of DNA from cells preserved in the desiccated dung of an extinct ground sloth.
- Astronomy
Record Breaker: A planet from the early universe
Astronomers have found the oldest and most distant planet known in the universe.
- Animals
Killer sex, literally
Videotapes of yellow garden spiders show that if a female doesn't murder her mate, he'll expire during sex anyway.
- Tech
Giving solar cells the rough treatment
A new solar cell design that traps photons in the crevices of a bumpy surface uses low-cost materials and may make these cells more commercially appealing.
- Earth
Antimosquito coils release toxic fumes
Researchers have measured several pollutants in smoke emitted from so-called mosquito coils, which people burn at night to fend off insects.
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Adults’ brains show temperamental side
Using brain-imaging techniques, psychologists have identified possible neural locations underlying shyness or gregariousness.
