News
- Tech
New View: Speedy microscope takes fuller look at the nanoworld
Action movies of molecules and a better feel for microscopic surfaces could flow from a radically revised version of the atomic-force microscope.
- Health & Medicine
Looking Ahead: Tests might predict Alzheimer’s risk
Two tests show promise in detecting Alzheimer's disease or other cognitive impairment years before symptoms arise.
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Model for Madness: Engineered mice have schizophrenia-like symptoms
Scientists have genetically altered mice so that they mimic the deficits in short-term memory and attention of schizophrenic patients.
- Animals
Killer Flatworm: New species hunts with puffer fish toxin
A newly described marine flatworm from Guam hunts with the same toxin that a puffer fish uses. With video.
- Health & Medicine
Not So Sweet: Cancers in rats that consumed aspartame
A large, new study in rats suggests that the artificial sweetener aspartame may be a carcinogen, but critics question the finding's validity.
- Astronomy
Radio Daze: Staccato pulses suggest a new stellar class
Astronomers have discovered what may be a new class of star that emits bursts of radio waves for 2 to 30 milliseconds before falling silent for minutes to hours.
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In Sickness and in Death: Spouses’ ills imperil partners’ survival
Among elderly people, a spouse's hospitalization for certain ailments substantially raises his or her partner's likelihood of dying.
- Health & Medicine
Alzheimer’s drug shows staying power
The drug memantine slowed mental decline in people with moderate-to-advanced Alzheimer's disease in a 12-month trial, the longest test of the drug to date.
- Earth
Krakatoa stifled sea level rise for decades
Ocean cooling caused by the volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 kept sea level worldwide in check well into the 20th century.
- Planetary Science
Stellar passage yields Charon’s girth
By observing Pluto's moon Charon passing in front of a star, astronomers have obtained precise measurements of the moon's radius and density.
- Earth
How to rate a snowstorm
Scientists have developed a rating scale to assess the impact of major snowstorms that strike the northeastern United States.
- Health & Medicine
Of taters and tots
For each serving of french fries that a preschool girl typically consumed per week, her adult risk of developing breast cancer climbed.
