News
- Health & Medicine
Let there be light
Researchers report restoring vision to people with a rare, genetic form of blindness. A different technique helped blind mice see again and could bring back some sight in people with macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa or other blinding diseases.
- Psychology
Smarten up
Taxing memory training produces at least short-term increases in a critical type of intelligence.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Tripping up avian flu
Developing an effective vaccine for avian flu has been difficult, but small rings of DNA that hinder virus replication could offer an alternative.
- Earth
Climate fix could deplete polar ozone
Scientists seeking to cool Earth’s climate by injecting sulfuric acid droplets high in the atmosphere might trim rising temperatures but could also destroy much of the ozone in polar regions, a new study suggests.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
Pockets of poor health
Life expectancy decreases in some locations
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
New approach might strike at the core of Alzheimer’s disease
By finding a way to stick an enzyme-inhibiting molecule to the membrane of a cell, scientists may have devised the framework for an Alzheimer’s drug.
By Nathan Seppa - Humans
Incan skull surgery
Incan healers became highly adept at skull surgery techniques that developed over thousands of years in ancient Peru.
By Bruce Bower - Ecosystems
Eight-legged bags of poison
Birds eating arachnids get high dose of toxic metal as mercury climbs up the food chain.
- Space
Searching for superEarths
Astronomers are exploring a new family of planets beyond the solar system.
By Ron Cowen -
- Ecosystems
Beetle attack overturns forest carbon regime
Ravaged Canadian region switches from carbon sink to net carbon source.
By Susan Milius - Space
Black hole once glowed brightly
More than 26,000 years ago, the Milky Way's central black hole suddenly but fleetingly increases its X-ray output.
By Ron Cowen