News
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High-protein diets boost hunger-taming hormone
Eating protein appears to boost blood concentrations of a hormone recently found to restrict appetite.
- Physics
Radiant plasma may combat cavities
Dentists may someday disinfect teeth with a newly demonstrated, handheld stylus that exudes glowing plasma deadly to cavity-causing bacteria.
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Stem cells sense stiffness
Stem cells can sense the texture of whatever medium they're growing on and use this quality to guide their fate.
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Katrina’s Two-Sided Impact: Survey finds disorders, resilience after tragedy
In the year after surviving Hurricane Katrina, Gulf Coast residents experienced a surge in serious mental disorders combined with elements of personal growth and emotional resilience.
- Planetary Science
Doggone! Pluto gets a planetary demotion
The solar system has only eight planets, and Pluto isn't one of them, according to the first-ever definition of a planet, approved last week by the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union.
- Health & Medicine
Head to Head: Brain implants are better for Parkinson’s patients
Parkinson's patients who get electrodes surgically implanted in their brains regain some muscle control and have improved quality of life.
- Paleontology
Frozen rainforest
Fossils trapped in amber provide evidence that the Amazonian rainforest dates back 10 to 15 million years.
- Earth
When a Shot Is Not: PCBs may impair vaccine-induced immunity
Exposure to certain pollutants early in life may do lasting harm to the immune system by blocking its response to vaccinations.
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Moss Express: Insects and mites tote mosses’ sperm
A lab test has shown that mosses have their own version animal-courier system for sperm that's similar to pollination.
- Tech
Wheel of Life: Bacteria provide horsepower for tiny motor
Crawling bacteria can power a micromotor.
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Engineering a Cure: Genetically modified cells fight cancer
By inserting a gene into normal immune cells isolated from melanoma patients, scientists have turned the cells into cancer fighters.
- Animals
Flea treatment shows downside of social life
The flealike parasites that build up in a shared burrow take an unexpectedly large toll on the ground squirrel's reproductive success.
