News

  1. Foster care benefits abandoned kids

    Orphan infants living in Romanian institutions who were randomly assigned to receive foster care showed marked improvements in thinking and reasoning skills by age 4-1/2, compared with their peers who remained institutionalized.

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  2. Paleontology

    The warm jungles of ancient France

    Chemical analyses of amber excavated near Paris suggest that France was covered with a dense tropical forest about 55 million years ago.

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  3. Animals

    Purring birds teach their chicks to beg

    African birds called pied babblers teach their chicks that certain parental noises mean food is on the way.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Smoking ups risk for type 2 diabetes

    Smoking increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by up to 61 percent.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Addiction Alleviator? Hallucinogen’s popularity grows

    The unsanctioned use of an obscure hallucinogen, ibogaine, to treat addiction has exploded recently.

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  6. Reading the Repeats: Cells transcribe telomere DNA

    Scientists have discovered that human cells make RNA transcripts of telomeres, the repetitive DNA at the ends of chromosomes, a finding that could have implications for understanding aging and cancer.

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  7. Paleontology

    Whales started small

    The ancestors of whales, some of which are the largest creatures ever to evolve, probably were mammals no larger than a fox.

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  8. Damage Control: Brain injuries fight off PTSD in vets

    Damage to either of two brain regions protects combat veterans against developing the severe stress ailment known as post-traumatic stress disorder, a finding with implications for treating this condition.

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  9. Astronomy

    Twinkle, Twinkle: Dark matter may have lit up first stars

    The earliest stars in the universe might have been fueled by dark matter instead of nuclear fusion.

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  10. Earth

    Plowing the Ancient Seas: Iceberg scours found off South Carolina

    Recent sonar surveys off the southeastern United States have detected dozens of broad furrows on the seafloor that were carved by icebergs during the last ice age.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    New Task: Malaria drug might inhibit some cancers

    The antimalarial drug chloroquine may prevent some cancers.

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  12. Humans

    Science News wins independent press award

    The Editors of the Utne Reader have named Science News magazine a 2007 winner in its science and technology category.

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