News
- Computing
Network Inoculation: Antivirus shield would outrace cyber infections
As a new way to protect a computer network from viruses, an epidemic of antiviral protection could theoretically propagate faster through the network than the virus itself, thanks to a novel topological twist.
By Peter Weiss -
Arbiter of Taste: Energy molecule transmits flavor to brain
The energy molecule ATP may play a pivotal role in conveying information about foods' taste to the brain.
- Chemistry
Multitasking Miniatures: Tailor-made particles are versatile
A new class of tiny particles fashioned from metal and organic building blocks may lead to novel catalysts and sensors.
- Paleontology
New View: Fossil offers novel look at an ancient bird
A newly described specimen of an ancient creature that most scientists consider the oldest known bird is posed in a way that provides new viewing angles for several body features.
By Sid Perkins -
Cognition down in apple-shaped seniors
Weight gain around the waist could go hand in hand with decreasing cognitive function as people age.
- Health & Medicine
Pomegranate juice could fight Alzheimer’s
Drinking pomegranate juice, already linked to a host of positive health effects, may also slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
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Spurned lovers’ brains reflect risk evaluation, pain
Using scanning technology, scientists can see the feelings of hurt, longing, and craving associated with a bad breakup reflected in the brains of recently rejected lovers.
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Insomniac brains are both asleep and awake
Brains affected by sleep-induced insomnia function as if both asleep and awake.
- Astronomy
Ring around the galaxy
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the largest number ever of elliptical galaxies with Einstein rings, a marker of gravitational lensing.
By Katie Greene -
DNA Clues to Our Kind: Regulatory gene linked to human evolution
A gene that exerts wide-ranging effects on the brain works harder in people than it does in chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates.
By Bruce Bower -
Danger Mouse: Deleting a gene transforms timid rodents into daredevils
By removing one gene from a mouse's standard repertoire, scientists have turned a timid animal into an intrepid one.
- Earth
Nonstick Taints: Fluorochemicals are in us all
A new federal study strongly suggests that all U.S. residents harbor measurable traces of fluorochemicals, compounds found in a host of consumer products.
By Janet Raloff