News
-
Adding to nature’s repertoire
Modified mouse cells make proteins that include synthetic amino acids in addition to the 20 natural ones.
- Tech
More bang for the biofuel buck
Microbes that ferment glycerol to ethanol could add an economically valuable new ingredient to the biofuel industry.
- Earth
As the last ice age waned, a great lake was born
Lake Agassiz, a huge and now vanished freshwater lake, formed almost 14,000 years ago, toward the end of the last ice age.
- Health & Medicine
Hepatitis B drug creates HIV resistance
A hepatitis B drug spurs resistance to HIV drugs in people infected with both diseases.
- Chemistry
Gooey solution to a sticky problem
A new, gooey, and potentially useful protein has been extracted from the bodies of jellyfish that overpopulate the seas around Japan.
- Planetary Science
Dust delays Martian rover
A dust storm has delayed the descent of the Mars rover Opportunity into Victoria crater.
- Health & Medicine
Mouse method turns skin cells to stem cells
Reprogrammed mouse skin cells that act as stem cells may offer an alternative for research involving embryos.
- Health & Medicine
Spermicide Flip Side: Compound may promote papillomavirus infection
The widely used spermicide nonoxynol-9 may boost the infectiousness of human papillomavirus, mouse tests show.
- Physics
Dropping the Ball: Air pressure helps objects sink into sand
A ball plunges deeper into sand under atmospheric pressure than under a vacuum, because the presence of air allows sand to flow like a liquid.
- Materials Science
Allergy Nanomedicine: Buckyballs dampen response of cells that trigger allergic reactions
Drugs based on soccer ball–shaped carbon molecules could one day help fight allergies.
-
Hidden Smarts: Abstract thought trumps IQ scores in autism
Autistic children and adults do better on a nonverbal test of abstract reasoning than they do on standard IQ tests, suggesting that their intelligence has been underestimated.
- Health & Medicine
Bad News for Cats: Cat allergen hits all allergic people
People allergic to dust mites, mold, grass, and other common irritants—but not to cats—still have greater breathing difficulties when they live around the animals.
