News
- Humans
Close Your Books: Cuts, shutdowns loom for EPA libraries
Some regional libraries maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency will permanently shut their doors because of a proposed cut to their funding.
- Health & Medicine
In utero factors shape responses to stress, sugar
Abnormal conditions during pregnancy can lead in unexpected ways to physiological problems in children once they reach adulthood.
- Health & Medicine
Thyroid-hormone mimic lowers LDL
A compound in a new class of potential anti-cholesterol drugs has passed an early test in people.
- Anthropology
Did small hominids have a genetic defect?
Miniature humans whose prehistoric remains were recently unearthed on an Indonesian island may have had a genetic disease known as Laron syndrome.
- Health & Medicine
Growth hormone’s risks outweigh its benefits
Human growth hormone has substantial risks and no functional benefits for healthy, elderly people.
- Earth
Asbestos fibers: Barking up a tree
Sixteen years after a mine with asbestos-contaminated ore shut down, trees in the area still hold hazardous concentrations of wind-deposited asbestos.
- Health & Medicine
Mad cow disease might linger longer
A rare but deadly human illness spread by cannibalism has an incubation period in some individuals of about 4 decades.
- Earth
Warning: Slow down for whales
To protect a major population of right whales, the U.S. government is proposing periodic go-slow rules for big ships passing through the animals' migration routes.
- Tech
Power Play: Shift from loss to gain may boost silicon devices
By tapping solar cell-like behavior in a silicon optical amplifier, engineers have shown that light-manipulating components made from silicon can become power recyclers rather than power wasters, an advance that boosts prospects for silicon optical devices.
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Feminine Side of ADHD: Attention disorder has lasting impact on girls
Many girls diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder as grade-schoolers struggle with a variety of problems related to that condition as teenagers, even though their hyperactive symptoms often ease.
- Animals
Dawn Sneaks: Old birds sing early, cuckold sleepyheads
Among European birds called blue tits, older males join the springtime dawn chorus extra early—which may signal their charms to philandering females.
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Smoke Screen: Light cigarettes reduce odds of quitting
People who smoke light cigarettes are much less likely to quit smoking than people who smoke regulars.
