News
- Health & Medicine
Linking stress and senility
A gene that's active in the brain may help explain why emotional stress seems to increase a person's likelihood of getting Alzheimer's disease.
- Earth
Icebergs can be biological hot spots
Icebergs carry nutrients from the land and shed them into the sea, nourishing life in the frigid waters near Antarctica.
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Blind people excel at serial recall
Blind people recall strings of words better than sighted people do, perhaps because of their greater reliance on memory in dealing with the tasks of daily life.
- Anthropology
Ape Aid: Chimps share altruistic capacity with people
Chimpanzees, as well as 18-month-old children, will assist strangers even when getting no personal reward, suggesting that human altruism has deep evolutionary roots.
- Health & Medicine
Immune Abuse: Methamphetamine is linked to cardiac damage
The illicit drug methamphetamine alters immune proteins unleashed in the body, possibly explaining why some longtime methamphetamine abusers suffer heart problems.
- Health & Medicine
Alcohol Answer? Drinks lower glucose to protect heart
Moderate consumption of beer, wine, or gin lowers blood glucose, perhaps helping to stave off type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
- Animals
Cat History: DNA study finds domestic-cat kin
DNA evidence shows that the Near Eastern lineage of the wildcat, one of five lineages of Felis silvestris, gave rise to today's domestic kitty cats.
- Tech
Biowarfare: Engineered virus can invade bacterial film
A genetically engineered virus not only kills bacteria but makes an enzyme that breaks up the biofilm in which the bacteria live.
- Tech
Cellular Smugglers: Laden nanoparticles hitch a ride on bacteria
Molecular cargoes loaded onto nanoparticles can sneak into mammalian cells on the backs of bacteria.
- Tech
Life Swap: Switching genomes converts bacteria
Transplanting the entire genome of one species of bacteria into another paves the way for making synthetic microbes with manmade DNA.
- Planetary Science
Music to alien ears
Saturn's moon Titan may be the best rock concert venue in the solar system, according to computer simulations of sound propagation on other worlds.
- Physics
Stradivari’s secrets
Three-dimensional imaging of a classic violin's vibrations explains the instrument's superior ability to direct sound to the audience.
