News

  1. Earth

    DDT treatment turns male fish into mothers

    Injecting into fish eggs an estrogen-mimicking form of the pesticide DDT transforms genetically male medaka fish into apparent females able to lay eggs that produce young.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Novel diabetes strain has rapid onset

    Japanese researchers have confirmed that some patients with type 1 diabetes have a novel form of the disease that's not caused by immune cells attacking the pancreas.

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  3. Physics

    Black hole recipe: Slow light, swirl atoms

    Whirling clouds of atoms may swallow light the way black holes do, possibly giving scientists a way to test the general theory of relativity in the lab, not just in outer space.

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  4. Anthropology

    Ancient populations were game for growth

    Archaeological evidence of a Stone Age shift in dietary preferences, from slow to swift small game, suggests that the human population rose sharply sometime between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago.

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  5. Anthropology

    Drowned land holds clue to first Americans

    A map of a now-flooded region charts the path that Asians may have taken to first reach the Americas.

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  6. Humans

    Treaty Nears on Gene-Altered Exports

    In an effort to help preserve biodiversity, negotiators from 130 nations crafted rules of conduct for international trade in living, genetically engineered organisms.

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  7. Animals

    Slithering on Air: Flying snakes glide through the treetops

    The paradise tree snake flies by flattening its body and slithering through the air.

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  8. Health & Medicine

    New Antidote to Botulism: Drug neutralizes toxin in mouse tests

    An experimental drug disables deadly botulism toxin much better than current treatment does.

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  9. Earth

    Long, Dry Spells: Lengthy droughts tied to long-lived La Niñas

    A new study of persistent droughts that occurred in the United States during the past 3 centuries suggests that those dry spells may be associated with prolonged periods when sea-surface temperatures in the central Pacific were cooler than average.

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  10. Animals

    Strong Medicine: Over-the-counter remedy snags snakes

    Acetaminophen—the active ingredient in Tylenol—vanquishes brown tree snakes, the bane of Guam.

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  11. Physics

    Sunlight Sponge? Energy trackers gauge water vapor’s wild dance

    Atmospheric water vapor takes in more solar radiation than has been indicated by measurements and models, but laser probes of highly agitated water molecules suggest that the vapor doesn't absorb enough radiation to explain the discrepancy fully.

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  12. Ecosystems

    Pfiesteria’s Bite: Microbe may kill fish by skinning, not poisoning

    At least one kind of Pfiesteria—accused of killing fish and threatening human health—does not produce a toxin but kills by eating holes in fish's skin, some researchers say.

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