News
- Tech
Virus has the Midas touch
Researchers have recruited a stringlike virus to carry nanoscale loads of gold that could serve as imaging agents in cancer diagnosis.
- Earth
Prions’ dirty little secret
The malformed proteins responsible for mad cow disease bind tightly to clay, a finding that points to farm soil as a potential long-term reservoir for these infective agents.
-
Depression’s rebirth in pregnant women
Expectant mothers who temporarily stop taking their antidepressant medication stand a good chance of sinking back into depression while pregnant.
- Health & Medicine
Newborn head size linked to cancer risk
Healthy newborns with big heads face an increased risk of brain cancer.
- Animals
Hawk skin sends UV signal
The patch of skin above a hawk's beak looks orange-yellow to us, but to another hawk, it may broadcast ultraviolet sex appeal.
- Animals
Bird-Safe Rx: Alternative drug won’t kill India’s vultures
Researchers have found an alternative to the livestock drug that has accidentally poisoned a majority of the vultures in India and neighboring countries.
- Health & Medicine
Protecting People from a Terrifying Toxin: Vaccine stimulates immune response against ricin
In its first test in people, a vaccine against the toxin ricin appears safe and generates antibodies that are expected to be protective against the potential bioterrorism agent.
- Earth
Cold and Deep: Antarctica’s Lake Vostok has two big neighbors
Trapped beneath Antarctica's kilometers-thick ice sheet are two immense bodies of water that may harbor ecosystems that have been isolated for millions of years.
-
Good for Something: Prion protein maintains stem cells
The same protein that, in an altered shape, causes mad cow disease maintains the body's cache of blood-producing stem cells.
- Physics
Smashing Success: Accelerator gets cool upgrade
A novel scheme for increasing the number of collisions in particle accelerators has boosted the performance of the world's highest-energy collider.
- Health & Medicine
Self Help: Stem cells rescue lupus patients
By rebuilding a patient's immune system using his or her own stem cells, doctors can reverse of the course of lupus in severely ill patients.
- Animals
Poor Devils: Critters’ fights transmit cancer
Tasmanian devils transmit cancer cells when they bite each other during routine squabbles, producing lesions that are often fatal.
