News
- Humans
Arsenic-based life finding fails follow-up
Tests see no evidence to confirm a bold 2010 claim that some microbes can incorporate the normally toxic element into their cellular machinery.
- Space
Spacecraft captures dust from interstellar wind
Measurements of the particles reveal clues about the composition of space beyond the solar system.
- Health & Medicine
Bird flu leaves tracks in brain
H5N1 infection might make survivors vulnerable to Parkinson’s or other neurological disorders, a study in mice indicates.
- Life
No sleep, no problem, but keep the grub coming
A naturally occurring strain of fruit fly can thrive without slumber, but succumbs more quickly to starvation.
- Humans
Predatory pythons shift Everglades ecology
As invasive snakes expand territory, some mammal populations drop by more than 90 percent within a decade.
- Life
Long-lived people distinguished by DNA
A controversial study finds genetic signatures that may be able to identify people with the best chance of living to 100 or beyond.
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- Psychology
Fighting willpower’s catch-22
Avoiding daily temptations works better than using willpower, which has oddly unintended effects.
- Humans
Catching a mood on Facebook
Happiness and other feelings filter among online friends through their brief posts.
- Health & Medicine
Prions more mobile than thought
Scientists coax pathogens from cow and goat to infect engineered mice, suggesting disease agents can readily jump from one species to another.
- Space
More like Faux-malhaut b
The Spitzer Space Telescope fails to find a visible planet circling where Hubble saw one four years ago.
- Chemistry
Measuring what makes a medicine
A new way to evaluate molecules offers a finer-grained picture of which ones could become drugs.
