News
- Planetary Science
Sister Planet: Mission to Venus reveals watery past
The Venus Express probe has found evidence that Venus once had more water than it does today, and has provided new measurements of the weather on Venus, proof of lightning on the planet, and signs of a formerly unknown hot spot near its south pole.
- Health & Medicine
Dengue virus found in donated blood
Scientists have discovered that 12 units of blood donated in Puerto Rico in late 2005 contained the dengue virus.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Sleeping sickness pill may work as well as injections
The first oral drug for sleeping sickness is showing effectiveness in a trial in central Africa.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Bomb craters mean trouble for islanders
A skin infection in people living on the Pacific island of Satowan stems from swimming in ponds formed from World War II bomb craters there.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Patch guards against Montezuma’s revenge
A patch worn on the skin delivers a vaccine against a form of Escherichia coli that causes traveler's diarrhea.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Additives may make youngsters hyper
Common food colorings and the preservative sodium benzoate have the potential to foster hyperactivity and inattentiveness in children, a new study finds.
By Janet Raloff - Chemistry
Hydrogen makers
A new bioreactor produces hydrogen hundreds of times as fast as previous prototypes.
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ADHD kids show slower brain growth
A new brain-scan investigation indicates that attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder involves substantial delays in children's brain development.
By Bruce Bower - Anthropology
Ancient-ape remains discovered in Kenya
Newly unearthed fossils of a 9.8-million-year-old ape in eastern Africa come from a creature that may have evolved into a common ancestor of African apes and humans.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Biohazard: Smoking before or after pregnancy may harm daughters’ fertility
Smoking before pregnancy or during breastfeeding might impair the female offspring's fertility, a study in mice shows.
By Nathan Seppa - Physics
Einstein Unruffled: Relativity passes stringent new tests
The moon's orbit and the dilated time of speeding atoms give new meaning to 'Einstein was right.'
- Health & Medicine
Wrong Way: HIV vaccine hinders immunity in mice
An HIV vaccine hurts, not helps, the immune systems of mice, say scientists.
By Brian Vastag