News
- Earth
Deep sea viruses are an unexpected ringer
Deep-sea vent waters harbor high numbers virus-carrying bacteria. The viruses may actually help the bacteria survive the harsh vent environments.
- Life
Ground squirrels use ‘armpit effect’
Hibernating ground squirrels forget who’s who, so thank goodness for the armpit effect.
- Health & Medicine
Ear infections make fatty food sound good
A history of middle ear infections could give people an affinity for fatty foods and leave them twice as likely to become obese.
- Space
Little middle ground for black holes
Black holes may not come in mid-sized versions. Astronomers expecting to find one in a galaxy cluster found a tiny black hole there instead.
- Earth
Carbon caveat
Adding carbon compounds to some ocean systems may lead to a counterintuitive drop in their overall carbon content — and how much carbon dioxide the ocean could store.
- Health & Medicine
Dopamine fends off zzzzz’s
A reward chemical in the brain helps keep sleep-deprived people awake.
- Physics
Short-lived particle questions long-lived theory
In sifting through the ashes of a short-lived subatomic particle called the kaon, physicists are slowly accumulating new hints that the theory of elementary particles might one day have to be modified.
- Chemistry
FBI reveals more details of anthrax investigation
A panel of scientists involved in the anthrax investigations released new details.
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- Earth
Carcinogens from car exhaust can linger
Free radicals similar to those in cigarette smoke may form when car exhaust cools off, and may persist indefinitely in the air.
- Space
Tiny object points to remote solar system reservoir
Possible comet may be distant visitor from the innermost region of the Oort Cloud, the proposed comet reservoir of the outermost solar system.
- Health & Medicine
Immune cells show long-term memory
Survivors of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic still make antibodies against the virus, revealing a long-lived immunity previously thought impossible.
