News
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Audiovisual aids may lessen dyslexia
A short training course in matching sound sequences with visual patterns shows promise as a way to boost reading skills in children with dyslexia.
By Bruce Bower -
Seabird makes citrusy bug repellant
Auklet feathers carry a cocktail of citrus-smelling chemicals, including compounds that squashbugs secrete to repel predators.
By Susan Milius -
Geneticists define new elephant species
A new study of the genetics of African elephants shows that forest dwellers differ so much from those roaming the savannas that the two may be separate species.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Milk seems to guard against breast cancer
Norwegian scientists have linked high milk consumption to low incidence of breast cancer.
By Janet Raloff - Tech
Quantum bell rings to electron beat
A new nanoscale transistor that parcels out electrons with metronome-like regularity has the potential to lead to designs for electronic noses and tiny devices inside of cell phones.
- Tech
Crystal listens for telltale sounds of virus
Scientists have built a device that can hear the movement of viral particles in fluids.
By John Travis - Health & Medicine
Hindering glutamate slows rat brain cancer
Compounds that inhibit the amino acid glutamate impede a form of brain cancer called glioma in rats.
By Nathan Seppa - Animals
It’s a snake! No, a fish. An octopus?
An as-yet-unnamed species of octopus seems to be protecting itself by impersonating venomous animals from sea snakes to flatfish.
By Susan Milius -
Human Brains May Take Unique Turn
Preliminary evidence indicates that the human brain may undergo a unique form of fetal development that facilitates the growth of brain areas involved in symbolic thought and language.
By Bruce Bower - Computing
Computer paints a charged bioportrait
By employing a novel computational strategy, researchers have mapped the electrical landscape of biological molecules made up of more than 1 million atoms.
- Paleontology
New fossil sheds light on dinosaurs’ diet
Vestiges of soft tissue preserved in a 70-million-year-old Mongolian fossil suggest that some dinosaurs could have strained small bits of food from the water and mud of streams and ponds, just like some modern aquatic birds do.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
Insulin lowers more than blood sugar
Insulin may reduce inflammation and protect the heart.
By John Travis