News
- Health & Medicine
Gene ups oral-cancer risk for drinkers who smoke
People who have a particular variant of a single gene are at a disproportionate risk of oral cancer if they both smoke and drink.
- Physics
Particle breakdowns beat expectations
A fresh analysis of 2002 accelerator data finds a third instance of a type of breakdown of subatomic kaons that's not supposed to happen so often, suggesting that shadowy, hypothetical particles predicted by a theory called supersymmetry may be influencing kaon behavior.
- Planetary Science
Cassini spies storms on Saturn
Closing in on Saturn after a 7-year journey, the Cassini spacecraft has discovered two storms merging on the ringed planet, only the second times that scientists have observed such a phenomenon.
- Animals
Male spiders amputate organs, run faster
Tiny male spiders of a species common to the southeastern United States routinely remove one of their two oversize external sex organs, enabling them to run faster and longer.
- Chemistry
Materials Factory: RNA manufactures palladium particles
Chemists have evolved RNA fragments in the lab that spontaneously synthesize highly uniform, hexagonal-shaped nanoparticles of palladium.
- Health & Medicine
Categorizing Cancers: Gene activity predicts leukemia outcome
By dividing acute myeloid leukemia into subtypes on the basis of which genes are abnormally active in a given patient, doctors may be able to predict outcomes and make better treatment decisions.
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Fat Chance: Hormone boosts metabolic rate, induces weight loss in mice
Fat cells secrete a hormone that tells the brain to boost the body's metabolic rate.
- Health & Medicine
Slimmer Ticks, Less Disease: Tick-semen protein is potential vaccine
An antitick vaccine using a protein that causes female ticks to engorge on blood may control tick populations, a new study suggests.
- Astronomy
Rare Passage: Crab’s X rays probe Titan
Observing a rare celestial alignment, astronomers have made the first X-ray measurement of the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan.
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Get Mellow, Fellow: Male baboons cooperate after cultural prodding
Researchers say they have found a troop of wild baboons in which females somehow transmit peaceful attitudes to males who transfer into the group.
- Earth
Weather Wise: Model may predict El Niño up to 2 years in advance
A new version of a climate-prediction model that includes detailed interactions between the oceans and the atmosphere could be used to foresee the onset of the climate-altering phenomenon known as El Niño.
- Health & Medicine
Drug for preemies linked to problems
A steroidal drug used to combat lung inflammation in premature infants appears to have long-term negative effects.
