News
- Health & Medicine
Cancer drug limits MS relapses
The anticancer drug retuximab inhibits nerve damage and relapses in multiple sclerosis patients.
By Nathan Seppa - Physics
Birds network too
Starlings in a flock adjust their trajectories to those of their closest neighbors, which helps the flock stay together when under attack.
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New World Stopover: People may have entered the Americas in stages
People first reached the edge of the Americas about 40,000 years ago but had to stay put for at least 20,000 years before melting ice sheets allowed them to move south and settle the rest of the continent.
By Bruce Bower - Earth
Don’t like it hot
King penguins don't live on continental Antarctica but even they are vulnerable to warming water.
By Susan Milius -
Swell, a Pain Lesson: Gut microbes needed for immune development
Intestinal bacteria train the immune system to cause pain and swelling, but that's a good thing.
- Astronomy
Where stars are born
Some 300 young stars, hidden in visible light, shine through the dust in a new infrared portrait of the main cloud of a nearby star-forming region called Rho Ophiuchi.
By Ron Cowen - Health & Medicine
Drug Running: Bust nets suspects in counterfeit antimalaria trade
Investigators have traced the source of counterfeit antimalarial pills in Southeast Asia to southern China, where suspects have been arrested and an illicit factory shut down.
By Nathan Seppa - Astronomy
Going the Distance: Galaxies may hail from early universe
Using a cosmic magnifying glass to peer into the deepest reaches of space, two teams of astronomers have discovered tiny galaxies that may be among the most distant known.
By Ron Cowen -
Animal Origins: Genome reveals early complexity
Analysis of DNA from a choanoflagellate, the closest known living nonanimal relative of animals, allows scientists to infer the genetic starter kit possessed by the first animal.
By Amy Maxmen - Paleontology
Flying Deaf? Earliest bats probably didn’t echolocate
Fossils of a cardinal-sized creature recently unearthed in western Wyoming suggest that primitive bats developed the ability to fly before they could track their prey with biological sonar.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
Caffeine intake tied to miscarriage
Intake of caffeine equal to two cups of coffee per day seems to double a woman's risk of miscarriage.
By Nathan Seppa - Humans
Heed your elders, survive a tsunami
An oral tradition passed down among islanders in the South Pacific saved many lives during a tsunami last year and illustrates the benefits that community-based education and awareness programs can provide.
By Sid Perkins