News
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PhysicsHow bicycles keep the rubber on the road
An international collaboration tries to explain the surprising stability of two-wheeled travel.
By Devin Powell -
LifeNew light on moths gone soot-colored
Researchers trace the mutation that led to the dramatic darkening of an insect's wings during England's industrial revolution to a region rich in genes that control color patterns.
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LifeDangerous dinos came out after dark
Predatory dinosaurs probably stalked the night, scientists say.
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SpaceXENON100 fails to find dark matter
A hundred days of solitude for an experiment designed to rendezvous with the universe's missing mass put new limits on the elusive material's properties.
By Ron Cowen -
Health & MedicineBody’s immune protein fights breast cancer
A new study clarifies the role of interleukin-25 in stalling malignancy, possibly clearing the way for new drug development.
By Nathan Seppa -
LifeAntarctic lake hides bizarre ecosystem
Bacterial colonies form cones similar to fossilized examples of Earth’s early life.
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ChemistryPlants and predators pick same poison
Zygaena caterpillars and their herbaceous hosts independently evolved an identical recipe for cyanide.
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LifePenguin declines may come down to krill
Lack of food appears to be hurting birds on the Antarctic Peninsula.
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PhysicsScrewy symmetry revealed
Math trick that reverses spirals and other shapes that twist and turn should provide new ways to understand and design materials.
By Devin Powell -
MathCells take on traveling salesman problem
With neither minds nor maps- chemical-sensing immune players do well with decades-old mathematical problem, a computer simulation reveals.
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SpaceBaffling blowup in distant galaxy
A high-energy blast has gone on for 11 days, puzzling astronomers as to its source.
By Ron Cowen -
SpacePioneer puzzle pinned on thermodynamics
Waste heat, not exotic physics, is slowing two 1970s-era space probes down more than would be expected, a new study claims.
By Ron Cowen