News
- Paleontology
Dinosaur tracks show walking and running
A single trail of dinosaur footprints found in a British limestone quarry preserves a record of two different walking styles in the same animal, a tantalizing clue that some types of lumbering, bipedal dinosaurs could also run if the need arose.
- Planetary Science
Galileo at Jupiter: The goodbye tour
After more than 6 years spent touring Jupiter and its four largest moons, the Galileo spacecraft’s mission is beginning to wind down.
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Infants emerge as picky imitators
By the age of 14 months, babies display a feel for evaluating the sensibility of an adult's behavior and either imitating the means to a goal or opting for a simpler way to achieve the same result.
- Health & Medicine
Alzheimer’s vaccine trial is suspended
A drug company in Ireland has halted tests of an experimental vaccine for Alzheimer's disease.
- Tech
Itsy chain turns bitsy gears
A tiny chain with links the size of biological cells offers a new way to deliver power to micromachines.
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Disorder Decline: U.S. mental ills take controversial dip
Far fewer people suffer from mental disorders requiring treatment than was initially indicated by two national surveys.
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Cool Discovery: Menthol triggers cold-sensing protein
A cell-surface protein that lets ions flow into cells responds to menthol and cool temperatures.
- Astronomy
X-Ray Universe: Quasar’s jet goes the distance
Collisions with photons left over from the birth of the universe appear to have generated the longest X ray-emitting jet ever found in a distant galaxy.
- Health & Medicine
Vitamin Void: Heart disease may lurk in B12 deficiency
Meatless eating typically improves cardiovascular health, but a dietary shortage of vitamin B12 may lead to an overabundance of the amino acid homocysteine in some vegetarians, which could pose a risk to their hearts.
- Ecosystems
Biodiversity Hot Spots: Top 10 sea locales make sobering list
Biologists have identified the world's most vulnerable coral reefs, each with organisms found nowhere else and threatened by human influence.
- Health & Medicine
Antibody Warfare: Vaccine halts microbes in dialysis patients
A vaccine protects many kidney-dialysis patients from blood infection caused by the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium.
- Materials Science
Better Stainless: Analysis could bring pits out of the steel
The key to developing pit-resistant stainless steel is to correct the dearth of chromium atoms around inclusions in the alloy.
