News

  1. Astronomy

    Gamma-ray burst leaves ephemeral afterglow

    A ground-based telescope on automatic pilot has taken one of the earliest images ever recorded of the visible-light afterglow of a gamma-ray burst, one of the most energetic flashes of radiation in the universe.

    By
  2. Health & Medicine

    Clot promoter cuts surgical bleeding

    A clot-promoting protein known as recombinant activated factor VII might offer a new way to staunch demand for blood transfusions.

    By
  3. Psychiatric drugs surge among kids

    The proportion of children and teenagers in the United States taking drugs prescribed for psychiatric disorders more than doubled from 1987 to 1996.

    By
  4. Health & Medicine

    Lifestyle can prevent diabetes…maybe

    Losing weight and exercising more can help ward off diabetes—but other research suggests that it's hard to get people to make such lifestyle changes.

    By
  5. Health & Medicine

    Singing the blues

    After finding that people with diabetes are slightly more likely to have had an episode of depression in the past 11 years than similar people who have not developed diabetes, some researchers have made the controversial suggestion that depression may cause diabetes.

    By
  6. Health & Medicine

    Darn that diet, anyway

    Seemingly healthful foods—such as broiled chicken and baked fish—can contain high concentrations of compounds that may damage the cardiovascular system, and eating these foods can raise the concentration of these so-called advanced glycation end products in a person's blood.

    By
  7. Health & Medicine

    The medicine isn’t going down

    Only about a third of people diagnosed with type II diabetes are taking their medications often enough to keep their blood sugar concentrations under tight control.

    By
  8. Agriculture

    Carnivorous fish nibble at farming gain

    Fish farming may ease pressure on wild stocks overall, but for certain species, farms mean a net loss of fish.

    By
  9. From Bone to Brain: Transplanted male bone marrow makes nerve cells in women and girls

    Transplanted bone marrow can form new nerve cells in the brains of people.

    By
  10. Chemistry

    Unnatural Biochemistry: Bacteria make and use an alien amino acid

    Researchers have constructed an organism that synthesizes and incorporates an extra amino acid into its proteins.

    By
  11. Smells Like Emotion: Brain splits duties to sniff out feelings

    A study suggests that a brain structure called the amygdala assesses the emotional intensity of both pleasant and unpleasant sensations, thus challenging prior evidence that it primarily coordinates fear responses.

    By
  12. Animals

    One-Two Poison: Scorpion starts with a cheap shot

    A South African scorpion economizes as it stings, injecting a simple mix first, followed by a venom that's more complicated to produce.

    By