News
- Health & Medicine
Genes for macular degeneration
Variations in two genes could account for three-quarters of all cases of age-related macular degeneration.
- Health & Medicine
Low-protein diet boosts treatment
A diet low in protein can improve the effectiveness of drug therapy and reduce the periods of the most debilitating symptoms suffered by Parkinson's disease patients.
- Chemistry
Fragment foils Alzheimer’s protein
Researchers have synthesized a protein fragment that, in test tubes, disrupts the formation of the fiber networks suspected to cause Alzheimer's disease.
-
-
- Health & Medicine
A link between emotional stress and heart attacks
In some people with heart disease, a stressful event precipitates changes in blood components and flow that may trigger a heart attack.
By Nathan Seppa - Planetary Science
Pluto’s posse
Images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on Feb. 15 confirm that Pluto has two small, previously unknown moons.
By Ron Cowen - Health & Medicine
Indigestion drug makes headway
An experimental drug relieves symptoms of a form of chronic indigestion called functional dyspepsia better than a placebo does.
By Nathan Seppa -
Gold-Metal Results: Compounds block immune proteins
Metals such as platinum and gold keep certain proteins from stimulating the body's immune response.
- Earth
Smoldered-Earth Policy: Created by ancient Amazonian natives, fertile, dark soils retain abundant carbon
Amazonian dark earth, or terra preta in Portuguese, is attracting scientific attention for its high productivity, mysterious past, and ability to store carbon.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Gender Gap: Male-only gene affects men’s dopamine levels
A gene found only in men affects the brain's production of dopamine, a finding that may help explain why men are more likely than women to develop Parkinson's disease and other dopamine-related illnesses.
- Astronomy
Unique Explosion: Gamma-ray burst leads astronomers to supernova
Astronomers have found a supernova associated with the second-closest-known gamma-ray burst, confirming a model in which bursts arise from material blasted into space by a supernova explosion.
By Ron Cowen