News
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Sickness and Schizophrenia: Psychotic ills tied to previous infections
Two new studies provide evidence for the longstanding suspicion that certain viral infections early in life promote the development of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders.
By Bruce Bower -
- Physics
Scanner Darkly: Tiny venetian blinds enhance radiography
Microscopic gratings that select scattered X rays might improve luggage screening and cancer detection.
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Do-It-Yourself DNA: Scientists assemble first synthetic genome
Assembly of the first human-made microbial genome could pave the way for making microbes with synthetic DNA.
- Ecosystems
Big Foot: Eco-footprints of rich dwarf poor nations’ debt
The first global accounting finds rich and middle-income nations stomping heavy footprints on poorer ones.
By Susan Milius - Astronomy
Four’s a crowd
Astronomers have found a quartet of stars packed into a region smaller than Jupiter's orbit around the sun.
By Ron Cowen - Astronomy
Gravity at play: A double lens
Astronomers have discovered an extraordinarily rare double cosmic mirage.
By Ron Cowen - Astronomy
Case of the misshapen disk
A deformed disk around a young star may have gotten its swept-back appearance as the result of a collision with a dense gas cloud.
By Ron Cowen -
9/11 attacks stoked U.S. heart ailments
People who experienced serious stress reactions shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks also displayed markedly elevated rates of new heart and blood vessel ailments over the next 3 years.
By Bruce Bower -
Antidepressants get overly positive spin
Studies finding beneficial effects of antidepressant drugs for depressed patients get published far more often than do studies that uncover no antidepressant benefits.
By Bruce Bower - Paleontology
Life explodes twice
The Ediacaran fauna were as varied as all animals in existence today and, more impressively, as in the Cambrian, report paleontologists.
By Amy Maxmen - Animals
Fenced-off trees drop their friends
Protecting acacia trees from large, tree-munching animals sets off a chain of events that ends up ruining the trees' partnership with their bodyguard ants.
By Susan Milius