News
- Health & Medicine
Vitamin D may be heart protective
Vitamin D limits arterial plaque buildup in people with diabetes, early tests suggest.
By Nathan Seppa - Life
Excess folic acid sits idle
Humans metabolize folic acid at a slow rate, suggesting that additional folic acid may yield no more benefits than recommended doses do, researchers report.
- Space
Extrasolar planets at full tilt
Violent interactions between planets may have played a key role in shaping the architecture of many extrasolar planet systems. The sun’s planetary system may have escaped or recovered from such a catastrophe.
By Ron Cowen - Archaeology
Exhuming a violent event
Four graves containing 13 skeletons have given scientists a glimpse of a lethal raid that occurred in central Europe 4,600 years ago.
By Bruce Bower - Chemistry
Styrofoam degrades in seawater
Study suggests besides the visible plastic, smaller bits are fouling the waters
- Earth
Scanning the land
Quake data analyses yield an improved model of Southern California’s crust.
By Sid Perkins - Life
Bomb-tastic new worms
Scientists find previously unknown deep-sea species that launch bioluminescent packets.
- Psychology
How to walk in circles without really trying
People walk in circles when landmarks and other directional cues are not available.
By Bruce Bower - Humans
Nostril rivalry
Like the eyes and ears, each nostril vies for the brain’s attention, a new study suggests.
- Animals
Back off, extinct moa
A New Zealand tree’s peculiar leaves may have served as defenses against long-gone giant birds.
By Susan Milius - Life
Tasmanian devils have no star networkers
Tasmanian devils all know each other, a new study shows. The discovery could mean that stopping the spread of an infectious cancer will be harder than previously thought.
- Health & Medicine
Docs writing fewer scripts
The number of antibiotic prescriptions for respiratory infections has declined since the mid-1990s, a new study shows.
By Nathan Seppa