News

  1. Sexual orientation linked to handedness

    A metanalysis reveals right-handedness is more common among heterosexuals than homosexuals, suggesting a neurobiological basis for sexual orientation.

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  2. Animals

    Flowers, not flirting, make sexes differ

    Thanks to lucky circumstances, bird researchers find rare evidence that food, not sex appeal, makes some male and female hummingbirds look different.

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  3. Physics

    Device Sees More inside Live Cells

    A new type of optical microscope, which can discern objects smaller than a supposedly fundamental limit for visible-light viewing, may make it possible to see finer details of the insides of living cells.

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  4. Earth

    Ancient Taint: Likely source of old dioxins identified

    Lab experiments show that the burning of peat from coastal areas of Scotland could be responsible for the enigmatic concentrations of dioxins sometimes found in pre-20th-century soils.

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  5. Humans

    Jonathan Eberhart (1942–2003)

    After chronicling space science and exploration for 3 decades on behalf of Science News, Jonathan Eberhart died last week from complications of multiple sclerosis.

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  6. Ecosystems

    After Invasions: Can an ant takeover change the rules?

    A rare before-and-after study of a takeover by an invasive ant species shows the interloper quickly disassembling the basic rules of the invaded community.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    Mixed Results: AIDS vaccine falters in whites, may help blacks

    In its first large test, an AIDS vaccine has failed to shield an at-risk population from acquiring AIDS.

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  8. Materials Science

    Waterproof Coats: Materials repel water with simplicity, style

    Researchers have produced new types of water-repelling surfaces, including one that's colorful and another made of inexpensive plastic.

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  9. Earth

    Sexual Hang-Up: Fish hormones change when oxygen is scarce

    Oxygen deprivation—an escalating problem in freshwater ecosystems worldwide—tampers with sex hormones in carp and might underlie the decline in some fish and amphibian species.

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  10. Anthropology

    Pieces of a Disputed Past: Fossil finds enter row over humanity’s roots

    Two new fossil discoveries have fueled scientific debates about the evolutionary status of a pair of species traditionally considered to have been our direct ancestors, Homo habilis and Homo erectus.

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  11. Stem Cell Surprise: Blood cells form liver, nerve cells

    Human blood contains stem cells that can be transformed outside the body into a variety of cell types, suggesting that a person's blood could someday provide replacement cells for that individual's damaged brain or kidney.

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  12. Materials Science

    Technique may yield vocal cord stand-in

    A plastic material used in some biological implants could someday form a foundation for tissue that can repair or replace human vocal cords.

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