News
- Health & Medicine
DREAMing away pain
Mutant mice lacking a certain regulatory protein overproduce a natural opioid and are less sensitive to pain than are other mice.
By John Travis - Archaeology
Skulls attest to Iron Age scalping
Archaeologists identified four skulls, previously found in southern Siberia, that bore incisions attesting to the practice of scalping in that region around 2,500 years ago.
By Bruce Bower - Materials Science
Carbon pods are more than a pack of peas
Researchers have found that they can manipulate the electronic properties of nanoscopic carbon structures.
- Health & Medicine
An El Niño link with a tropical disease?
An analysis of recent outbreaks of an often fatal disease in Peru may strengthen a link between the malady and the warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean known as El Niño.
By Sid Perkins - Humans
Storm warnings take new tone of voice
The National Weather Service is now testing new computer-generated voices that will be used in the agency's broadcasts of severe storm warnings on NOAA Weather Radio.
By Sid Perkins - Earth
New way of gauging reservoir evaporation
Scientists have developed a new way to estimate the evaporation of water from large reservoirs that, if adopted, would replace a labor-intensive procedure based on decades-old technology.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
Compound mimics calorie restriction
A new compound, part of a family of proteins that regulate fat transport, lowers the risk of developing heart disease and diabetes in monkeys.
- Humans
Talent Search: Student finalists’ flair for science to be rewarded
A panel of judges announced the 40 finalists in the 61st annual Intel Science Talent Search.
By Sid Perkins - Plants
Petite pollinators: Tree raises its own crop of couriers
A common tropical tree creates farms in its buds, where it raises its own work force of tiny pollinators.
By Susan Milius - Astronomy
Supernova dealt deaths on Earth? Stellar blasts may have killed ancient marine life
The explosion of nearby supernova may have caused the widespread extinction of marine life on Earth 2 million years ago.
By Ron Cowen - Chemistry
Viral parts: Chemists convert virus into nanoscale tool
Researchers are decorating viruses with a variety of molecules, making the microbes into potential building blocks in electronic circuits and new materials, as well as tools in biomedical therapies.
- Health & Medicine
Ominous signals: Genes may identify the worst breast cancers
By using a technology that reveals patterns of gene activity in tumor cells, researchers can detect breast cancers that are likely to spread and become deadly.
By Nathan Seppa