News
-
AnimalsPoison birds copy ‘don’t touch’ feathers
A subspecies of one of New Guinea's poisonous pitohui birds may be mimicking a toxic neighbor, according to a new genetic analysis.
By Susan Milius -
Health & MedicineAging cells may promote tumors nearby
Cells that enter a state called senescence in older individuals may stimulate nearby cells to become tumors.
By John Travis -
Gene change speaks to language malady
Researchers have identified a genetic mutation that may lie at the root of a severe speech and language disorder observed across four generations of a British family.
By Bruce Bower -
AnimalsShrimps spew bubbles as hot as the sun
With the snap of a claw, a pinkie-size ocean shrimp generates a collapsing air bubble that's hot enough to emit faint light.
By Peter Weiss -
ChemistryMolecules get microscopic bar code labels
Researchers have created tiny, striped tags for labeling and tracking biologically important molecules.
-
Health & MedicineChemical Neutralizes Anthrax Toxin
Scientists have created a synthetic compound that, when tested in rats, disables the toxin that makes anthrax lethal.
By Nathan Seppa -
PhysicsMagnets, not magic, make gas bulbs bad
Once as baffling as black magic, the random failures of glass bulbs used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) now appear to stem from unexpected magnetization of the glass.
By Peter Weiss -
PhysicsPath to new elements now looks steeper
Making novel, superheavy elements is harder than was previously expected, according to a new experiment, but the findings may also help physicists better choose which atoms to smash into which.
By Peter Weiss -
TechMicrojaws chomp cells to change them
A tiny, new biomedical device operates on such a small scale that it can grab individual red blood corpuscles in its jaws.
By Peter Weiss -
TechNervy chip may open window into brain
Researchers have built a simple circuit that blends living neurons with silicon-based transistors.
By Peter Weiss -
Health & MedicineOceans apart, but surgery succeeds
A French group performed the first transatlantic operation when surgeons in New York controlled a robot in Strasbourg, France, which removed a woman's gall bladder.
-
Health & MedicineFor a change, infection stymies HIV
A hepatitis-like virus that causes no known diseases seems to help people stave off the progression of HIV, the AIDS virus.