News
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Health & MedicineAttention Loss: ADHD may lower volume of brain
Brain-scan data show that the brains of children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are slightly smaller than those of their peers who are free of psychiatric disorders.
By Bruce Bower -
AstronomyBalloon Sounds Out the Early Universe
A balloon-borne experiment circling Antarctica has measured the curvature of the universe and revealed that it's perfectly flat.
By Ron Cowen -
Health & MedicineInducing eye-tumor cells to self-destruct
By restarting the subdued self-destruct signal in cancer cells, researchers studying eye cancers have found a way to stop these cancers in cell cultures and in a rabbit model.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineMove your head, hurt your golf game
Right-handed golfers using a conventional grip move their head and eyes more during putts than they do when using a cross-handed or one-handed grip, suggesting these alternative grips might work better.
By Nathan Seppa -
HumansRare animals get U.N. protection
Several types of whales, river dolphins, the great white shark, and an unusual camel are among animals designated to receive new or heightened protection under a United Nations treaty.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & MedicineMaking the optic nerve sprout anew
A compound made during inflammation, a natural reaction to injury, can induce optic nerve regeneration in a lab-dish concoction including rat retinal ganglion cells.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineCatching macular degeneration early
Scientists have developed a test that uses the eye's ability to adapt to darkness as a test for age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in elderly people.
By Nathan Seppa -
AnimalsThat special wax lasts after courtship
Sandpipers' special wax for their wings during the breeding season may have less to do with courting a mate and more to do with sitting on eggs.
By Susan Milius -
Health & MedicineStressing out
A gene variant reduces people's response to the stress hormone cortisol, and people with the variant are less likely to have risk factors for heart disease and diabetes.
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ArchaeologyMaya warfare takes 10 steps forward
The discovery of hieroglyphic-covered steps on the side of a Maya pyramid has yielded new information about warfare between two competing city-states around 1,500 years ago.
By Bruce Bower -
Health & MedicineAsthma pressure may shrink airways
Mechanical stress from constricting muscles could cause airway-lining cells to reproduce, eventually thickening the lining and narrowing the air passage.
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ChemistryNow, nylon comes in killer colors
Chemists are improving antibacterial fabrics by treating them with compounds that prolong their killing power and add color.