News
- Earth
When testosterone gets down and dirty
Testosterone excreted by livestock can pass through soils, which may explain new findings of fish-altering hormonal activity in water downstream of cattle feedlots.
- Astronomy
X-ray images highlight galaxy collisions
A new study provides graphic evidence that X-ray observations may be the best way to identify ancient collisions between galaxies.
- Health & Medicine
SARS vaccine triggers immunity in monkeys
An experimental vaccine against the SARS virus shows promise in a test on monkeys.
- Tech
Gene Screen: Ultrasensitive nanowires catch mutations
Researchers have devised a nanowire sensor that binds to DNA molecules and produces an electrical signal almost instantaneously.
- Health & Medicine
Pivotal Protein: Inhibiting immune compound slows sepsis
By restraining the action of an immune system protein that can run amok, scientists experimenting on mice have reversed the course of severe sepsis.
- Earth
Blasts from the Past: Orbiting radar spots old nuclear-test sites
A technique that analyzes satellite images to detect subtle ground motions often can perceive subsidence over underground nuclear-test sites, sometimes even if those tests occurred decades ago.
- Paleontology
Ancestral Handful: Tiny skull puts Asia at root of primate tree
Researchers have unearthed the partial skull of the oldest known primate, a tiny creature that lived in south-central China 55 million years ago.
- Earth
My Own Private Bad-Air Day: Outdoor data underrate pollutant exposure
Most people breathe in substantially more organic contaminants than airborne concentrations of such substances in their homes and communities would suggest.
- Animals
Whale Haunt: Nursing, feeding spot found off south Chile
A survey along the coast of southern Chile has turned up a previously undocumented blue whale hangout that seems to be a feeding ground.
- Physics
Topsy Turvy: In neutrons and protons, quarks take wrong turns
Revved-up particles, namely quarks, spinning inside neutrons in the opposite direction to that of the neutrons themselves, challenge the prevailing model of how quarks behave.
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- Earth
New technique dates glaze on desert rocks
Scientists have developed a quick, easy, portable, and nondestructive way to determine the age of desert varnish, the mysterious dark coating that slowly develops on rocks in many arid regions of the world.
