News
- Planetary Science
Hyperion’s hydrocarbons
New observations by the Cassini spacecraft indicate the presence of ice and solid carbon dioxide on Saturn's moon Hyperion, and suggest an explanation for the orb's spongelike appearance.
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Alcohol problems hit nearly 1 in 3 adults
Nearly one in three recently surveyed U.S. adults reports having had serious alcohol problems at some time in their lives.
- Health & Medicine
Brain stem cells help Parkinson’s monkeys
Transplants of human-brain stem cells triggered signs of improvement in monkeys with a Parkinson's disease–like disorder.
- Physics
Pulling Strings: Stretching proteins can reveal how they fold
Unfolding a single protein by pulling on its ends reveals the molecular forces that make it fold up.
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Forget About It: How the brain suppresses unwanted memories
Two newly discovered neural processes give people the ability to intentionally forget upsetting memories.
- Astronomy
Shattering Find? Comet fragments show surprising uniformity
Close observations of fragments of a comet indicate that its interior was remarkably similar to its surface, meaning that repeated solar heating didn't much change its outer layers.
- Health & Medicine
Smoke This: Parkinson’s is rarer among tobacco users
Life-long smoking cuts the chance of getting Parkinson's disease by about half.
- Earth
E-Waste Hazards: Chinese gear recyclers absorb toxic chemicals
People who live in an area of China where electronic devices are dismantled and recycled, as well as villagers 50 kilometers away, have high concentrations of flame retardants in their blood.
- Ecosystems
Sea Change: People have affected what penguins eat
Adélie penguins in Antarctica significantly changed their eating habits about 200 years ago, after whaling and other human activities transformed the ocean ecosystem.
- Health & Medicine
Tumor Suicide: Gene therapy makes cancer cells self-destruct
Microscopic bubbles of fat that deliver a suicide gene to tumor cells show success in treating pancreatic cancer in mice.
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Anemone reveals complex past
The starlet sea anemone, a primitive creature with ancient evolutionary roots, has a surprisingly complex genome.
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Adding to nature’s repertoire
Modified mouse cells make proteins that include synthetic amino acids in addition to the 20 natural ones.
