News
- Earth
How reading may protect the brain
People who read well show more resistance to the toxic brain effects of lead exposure.
By Janet Raloff - Animals
What’s so great about ‘chuck’?
A particular flourish in a male frog's call attracts extra interest from predators as well as female frogs, and researchers now have an idea why.
By Susan Milius - Animals
Badly matched birds make troubled parents
Cockatiel pairs that don't cooperate well have trouble raising their chicks.
By Susan Milius - Physics
Newton’s Dusty Mirror: Old experiment inspires ultrafast imaging
An experiment devised by Isaac Newton inspires a modern successor, in which X rays capture the image of a microscopic explosion.
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Bad News, Good News: ADHD-risk gene has silver lining
A gene variant that increases the risk for attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder in young children also helps the problem resolve by the teen years.
By Brian Vastag - Earth
Drug Overflow: Pharmaceutical factories foul waters in India
A treatment plant in India that processes waste from drug factories feeds enormous amounts of antibiotics and other drugs into local waterways.
- Health & Medicine
Nerve Link: Alzheimer’s suspect shows up in glaucoma
Amyloid-beta, the protein fragment implicated in Alzheimer's disease, may also play a role in glaucoma.
By Nathan Seppa - Earth
Bad for Baby: New risks found for plastic constituent
Early exposure to bisphenol A, a building block of polycarbonate plastics, can trigger a variety of later health problems.
By Janet Raloff - Animals
Ferrets Gone Wild: Reintroduced animals coming back in Wyoming
A Wyoming population of endangered black-footed ferrets, started from captive-bred animals, has survived difficulties and is doing well.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Skeletal Discovery: Bone cells affect metabolism
A protein made by bone cells has a surprising influence on energy metabolism, and could have a role in treating diabetes.
- Health & Medicine
Serotonin lower in shift workers
Workers who rotate between day and night shifts have less of the brain chemical serotonin than day shift workers do.
By Brian Vastag - Earth
Beware summer radon-test results
Measuring household radon levels in summer may give misleadingly low results.
By Janet Raloff