News
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Health & MedicineImmune 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.
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SpaceThe great planet debate
New suggestions for defining a planet would put Pluto back on the list. Scientists discuss the International Astronomical Union’s definition during the Great Planet Debate Conference.
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PhysicsStars ablaze in other skies
A new study suggests that a surprising number of universes, even those with laws of physics different from those in our universe, can still support stars.
By Ron Cowen -
SpaceSharpshooting Enceladus
Swooping within 49 kilometers of Saturn’s tiny, geologically active moon Enceladus, the Cassini spacecraft has pinpointed the locations of the icy geysers that erupt from the southern hemisphere of this wrinkled moon’s surface.
By Ron Cowen -
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ArchaeologySaharan surprise
A chance discovery in the Sahara leads to the excavation of a Stone Age cemetery containing remains from two lakeside cultures.
By Bruce Bower -
EcosystemsSlave ants rebel
Species vulnerable to enslavement may evolve ways to fight their captors.
By Susan Milius -
EcosystemsCoastal dead zones expanding
The number of coastal areas known as dead zones is on the rise. A new tally reports more than 400 of the oxygen starved regions worldwide.
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LifeBacteria use poison to make food
Bacteria from Mono Lake conduct photosynthesis with arsenic, a form of the process that may be a relic of life on Earth before the advent of an oxygen atmosphere.
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Health & MedicineHeart to heart
Successful heart transplant experiment in infants draws attention to debate on defining death of organ donors.
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PhysicsInvisible hand, and a quick one at that
God doesn’t play dice, Einstein said in his critique of quantum theory. But any alternative theory to quantum mechanics would require certain quantum events to influence each other 10,000 times faster than the speed of light, physicists have shown.