News
- Life
Gene stops tumors, but only when it’s gone
When a single copy of the microRNA processor Dicer is disabled, cancer can become more deadly. Removing Dicer completely, though, stops tumors.
- Life
Poached hammerhead fins traced to endangered populations
Mapping populations with DNA comparisons offers possible tool for conservation of hammerhead sharks.
- Chemistry
Elusive triangular snowflakes explained
Dust particles,wind and aerodynamics could steer some snowflakes toward a three-sided fate
- Humans
Loneliness is contagious, study suggests
An analysis of social networks finds that people who feel isolated may spread mistrust among others.
- Paleontology
Major eruption cooled the climate but went unnoticed
Ice-core records suggest that a major 1809 eruption cooled Earth even before the Tambora eruption and ‘the year without a summer’.
- Space
World’s biggest atom smasher sets first record
After a year’s delay, the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland, became the world’s highest energy particle accelerator on November 30, revving up each of its twin proton beams to energies of 1.18 trillion electron volts.
- Health & Medicine
Discerning pancreatic cancer from pancreatitis
New test shows patients with autoimmune pancreatitis are more likely to have a telltale antibody.
- Animals
Little push turns snail lefties to righties
Bumping an early embryo’s cells can switch the direction of its spiral.
- Life
Bone regulators moonlight in the brain as fever inducers
Study in mice suggests proteins could be source of post-menopausal hot flashes.
- Humans
A timely touch transforms speech perception
New research indicates that what people hear others saying depends on their skin, not just their ears.
- Life
Fecal architecture is beetle armor
Predators have a hard time getting through the layers of excrement some beetle moms give their young.
- Earth
GPS bolsters view that big Cascadia quakes could hit inland
Satellite tracking of plate movements shows that a magnitude-9 tremor in Pacific Northwest could strike close to urban areas.
