News
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ChemistryPesticides tied to lower IQ in children
Chemicals once sprayed in homes — and still used on farms — were found to have significant effects in three studies.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & MedicineFlies on meth burn through sugar
Cellular effects may explain why addicts often have a sweet tooth.
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Health & MedicineMucus-related gene tied to lung disease
People with pulmonary fibrosis are much more likely to make excess amounts of a normally beneficial protein, a study finds.
By Nathan Seppa -
LifeGut bacteria come in three flavors
Everybody has one of a trio of types — and which one seems to be less important than how the bugs behave.
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PhysicsScientists see the one-way light
Nonlinear materials that allow directional discrimination of waves could be used to make components for light-based computers.
By Devin Powell -
HumansKilling fields of ancient Syria revealed
Stone corrals were used to trap whole herds of animals for mass slaughter.
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SpaceNASA pulls out of astrophysics missions
Europe is now on its own for two planned spacecraft to study black holes and gravitational waves.
By Ron Cowen -
HumansPossibly pivotal human ancestor debated
An ancient species that may have sparked the rise of humankind gets a new appraisal.
By Bruce Bower -
LifeComplex life hit freshwater early
Tiny fossils in Scottish rock show that cells with nuclei had spread beyond the seas by a billion years ago.
By Susan Milius -
EarthSeismologists rumble over quake clusters
Japan tremor may be part of a second grouping of great quakes since 1900, some scientists say.
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LifeGone fishing, orangutan-style
Apes that catch fish in ponds and eat them raise the possibility that ancient hominids did the same.
By Bruce Bower -
PhysicsTime travel nixed in metamaterial world
A desktop universe captures essential properties of the real thing.
By Devin Powell