News
- Life
A gene for a short night’s sleep
Alterations in a gene called DEC2 lead to a shortened sleep period in people, mice and fruit flies.
- Tech
Scientists propose lab-grade black holes
Creating tiny, artificial black holes could help uncover what happens to particles on the edge of full-sized black holes.
- Health & Medicine
Brain doesn’t sort by visual cues alone
Blind and sighted people’s brains sort the living from the nonliving in the same way, suggesting this ability may be hard-wired.
- Earth
Big Gulp, Asian style
Satellite data reveals that increased irrigation pressure is rapidly depleting groundwater in northern India.
- Animals
SOS: Call the ants
Emergency ant workers bite at snares, dig and tug to free trapped sisters
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- Health & Medicine
Bone-preserving drug passes tests in men, women
New drug limits bone fractures in elderly women and men fighting prostate cancer
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- Space
Half the boom better than no boom at all
The Large Hadron Collider will begin colliding protons at half of the designed energy this November, with plans to repair the faulty sections of the accelerator at the end of 2010.
- Anthropology
Humanity’s upright gait may have roots in trees
A comparison of wrist bones from African apes and monkeys indicates that human ancestors began walking by exploiting the evolutionary legacy of ancient, tree-climbing apes.
- Earth
Spotting danger from on high
Airborne sensors can identify mineral outcrops and soil that may contain natural asbestos.
- Computing
Minifridge makes quantum computers last
A new study shows that if ions are kept cool, then the information they hold can be repeatedly manipulated.
