News
- Anthropology
Ancient people get dated Down Under
New dating analyses indicate that people reached southeastern Australia between 50,000 and 46,000 years ago and that two human skeletons previously unearthed there were buried about 40,000 years ago.
- Health & Medicine
Gene mutation for color blindness found
Scientists have identified the gene that is mutated in people who have color blindness on the Pacific island of Pingelap, perhaps paving the way for genetic screening.
- Health & Medicine
Enzyme needed to degrade acetaldehyde
A shortage of the enzyme ALDH-2, which is needed to break down alcohol in the body, causes a buildup of the cancer-linked chemical acetaldehyde, perhaps explaining why alcoholics lacking ALDH-2 have high rates of mouth and throat cancers.
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Man-made thymus churns out immune cells
Scientists have constructed an artificial thymus to make immune cells in the laboratory.
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Brain, heal thyself
The rodent brain can be stimulated to replace damaged cells with new ones.
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Protein helps the brain connect
Neuroligins may help brain cells form specialized links known as synapses.
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Wasps: Mom doesn’t like you best
Female wasps that found a colony together show no favoritism toward their own offspring when the adults feed larvae.
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Excuse me, dear, which octopus are you?
Male blue-ringed octopuses get pretty far along in their courtship before they determine whether their partner is a female.
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How butterflies can eat cyanide
Some newly recognized chemical wizardry lets some Heliconius caterpillars thrive on leaves that defend themselves with cyanide.
- Astronomy
Astronomers get radio protection
Astronomers studying the universe at millimeter-wave energies-the high-frequency portion of the radio spectrum-were given an official guarantee last month that commercial satellites and other communication devices won't interfere with the scientists' observations.
- Astronomy
The smashup that rejuvenates
For some elderly stars, the fountain of youth may be only a collision away.
- Tech
Watching the Big Wheelers: In sea of cars, trucks reveal traffic flow
A new way to sense traffic jams more quickly tracks the motion of trucks within the overall traffic flow.
