News
- Earth
Biological Hot Spots: Ocean eddies may not always lock away carbon
The carbon in the tissues of organisms that bloom inside some ocean eddies doesn't always sink to the ocean floor to be locked away in sediments when those organisms die.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
X-Ray Kin: Radiation risk is hereditary
Susceptibility to radiation-induced tumors runs in families.
By Brian Vastag - Animals
Face it: Termites are roaches
Termites are just cockroaches with a fancy social life.
By Susan Milius -
Alzheimer’s clues from thin brains
Children and teens who possess a gene variant linked to Alzheimer's disease have substantially thinner neural tissue in a key brain structure than their peers do.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Slimming on oolong
Rats absorb less dietary fat and gain less weight when their diets contain lots of oolong tea.
By Janet Raloff - Earth
Emissions tied to global warming are on the rise
The United States emitted nearly 1 percent more greenhouse gases in 2005 than it did in the year before.
- Health & Medicine
Embryos, please
Almost half of Spanish couples who were asked recently to donate excess embryos for stem cell research did so.
By Brian Vastag - Health & Medicine
Therapeutic sorghum?
Sorghum's inflammation-fighting activity is comparable to that of a prescription arthritis medicine, animal research indicates.
By Janet Raloff - Physics
Broadband vision
Cells that act like optical fibers could explain why vertebrate retinas have sharp vision despite being mounted backwards.
- Plants
Tiny pool protects flower buds
A rare structure on flowers, tiny cups that keep buds underwater until they bloom, can protect the buds from marauding moths.
By Susan Milius - Humans
Extreme Encyclopedia: Every living thing will get its own page
A consortium of museums and laboratories has unveiled plans to create a free, Web-based Encyclopedia of Life with an entry for every living species.
By Susan Milius - Physics
Invisible Trail: Analyzing the vortices in the wake of a bat
Flying bat generate lift and thrust with their wings much differently than birds do.
By Sid Perkins