News
- Space
The best next space missions
The National Research Council issues recommendations for planetary science projects that NASA and NSF should fund starting in 2013.
By Ron Cowen - Health & Medicine
Stretchy electronics aid heart surgery
New balloon catheters may help cardiologists treat common cardiac problems.
- Health & Medicine
Alpha wave may affect sleep quality
A type of brain activity once considered diagnostic of wakefulness persists during slumber, and the more intense it is the more easily a person can be jolted awake.
- Space
Stellar wormholes may exist
Tunnels through spacetime would connect pairs of stars, new simulations suggest.
By Ron Cowen - Psychology
A man lost in musical time
A man who can’t feel music’s pulse or move in time to it provides initial clues to ‘beat deafness.’
By Bruce Bower - Earth
Low sperm counts linked to fetal effects
Low male fertility may partly stem from chemical exposures in utero, an anatomical study suggests.
By Janet Raloff - Space
A bid to implode cosmic ray theory
Streams of fast-moving particles aren’t fueled just by supernovas, a new study suggests.
By Devin Powell -
Enzyme revives long-term memories
Increasing levels of a natural substance in the brain helps rats remember old times.
- Life
Good gene type for cancer bad for stroke
A DNA variant that helps prevent tumors may diminish the brain’s recovery after an interruption in blood supply.
- Space
Sun’s doldrums likely to last
Despite a recent flare, solar physicists project low activity for up to a decade.
By Ron Cowen - Life
Hagfish may eat through their skin
The odd dining habits of carrion-eating protovertebrates may be relevant to the evolutionary transition to land.
By Susan Milius - Humans
Smelling a rat in a bag of chips
A forensic scientist shares tales from a very special victims unit.