News
- Earth
Where steel-belted radials go to die
A new technique for analyzing satellite images may enable researchers to easily identify sites where large numbers of used tires have been dumped.
By Sid Perkins - Earth
Ozone hole might not recover until the year 2065
The ozone-free zone that develops high in the atmosphere over Antarctica each summer as the result of the presence of chlorine- and bromine-containing chemicals may not heal until 15 years later than previously projected.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
Protein predicts sickle-cell danger
A biological marker of heart trouble can be used to identify sickle-cell anemia patients who are at greatest risk of developing a serious, disease-related complication.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Transfusions harm some heart patients
Patients who undergo coronary-bypass surgery frequently receive unnecessary blood transfusions as part of their follow-up care.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Old drug, new trick
The drug rapamycin, now used in transplants, may make chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia more effective.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Molecule marks leukemia cells
Researchers can now single out malignant cells in the bone marrow of patients with acute myeloid leukemia by using an antibody that latches on to a newfound cell protein.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Rare marrow cells tackle deadly immune reaction
Researchers have developed a new technique to counter graft-versus-host disease, a common complication of treating blood cancers with marrow-cell transfusions.
By Ben Harder - Earth
Lab tests hint at where xenon hides out
Results of recent experiments in which scientists squeezed a mixture of xenon and powdered quartz at high temperatures and pressures may explain why the gas is found at relatively low concentrations in the atmosphere.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
Ebola may travel on the wing
Fruit bats can carry the Ebola virus, suggesting that they may spread it in Africa.
By Nathan Seppa - Astronomy
A puny way to make planets
Brown dwarfs are failures in the star-making business, but new observations reveal that they may still succeed in growing planets.
By Ron Cowen - Tech
Nanotubes spring eternal
Researchers have discovered that forests of carbon nanotubes squish and expand like foams, but with extraordinary resilience.
By Peter Weiss - Physics
Peek-a-bubble
Physicists made a stable, doughnut-shaped air bubble in water by encasing the gas ring in beads that form a stiff shell.
By Peter Weiss