News
- Materials Science
Micropower Heats Up: Propane fuel cell packs a lot of punch
Portable electronic devices such as laptops and MP3 players could soon run on miniature fuel cells that consume propane.
- Earth
Icy Heat: Satellites look at heat flow through Antarctica’s crust
Using satellite observations of Earth's magnetic field, scientists can estimate the amount of heat flowing upward through Earth's surface under kilometers-thick ice.
- Health & Medicine
Back to Genetics: DNA variant may code for lumbar pain
An inheritable gene variation may increase susceptibility to lumbar-disk disease.
- Astronomy
Peering into a disrupted stellar nursery
A new infrared portrait of the Carina nebula star-forming region shows a clutch of baby stars tucked inside pillars of thick dust.
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Disorderly Conduct: U.S. survey finds high rates of mental illness
Nearly half of all adults in the United States develop at least one mental disorder at some time in their lives, although most cases aren't serious enough to require treatment.
- Animals
Sponge Moms: Dolphins learn tool use from their mothers
Dolphins that carry sponges on their beaks while looking for food may have learned the trick from their mothers instead of just inheriting a sponge-use gene.
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Cancer Link: MicroRNA grabs the spotlight
A type of genetic molecule known as microRNA can regulate gene activation and, in some cases, accelerate cancer growth.
- Earth
Seismic noise can yield maps of Earth’s crust
The small, random, and nearly constant seismic waves that travel in all directions through Earth's crust can be used to make ultrasoundlike images of geologic features within the crust.
- Health & Medicine
Tracking down an emerging disease
By examining geographic patterns of outbreaks of a disfiguring skin disease in tropical nations, scientists are finding tentative clues about how the ailment spreads.
- Earth
. . . and churn up big waves, too
As Hurricane Ivan approached the U.S. Gulf Coast last September, sensors detected the largest wave ever measured by instruments.
- Earth
A hurricane can dump a lot of rain . . .
Hurricanes can drop enormous amounts of precipitation in a short amount of time, a phenomenon that residents of Puerto Rico experienced in spades when Hurricane Georges struck the island in 1998.
- Health & Medicine
Obesity and insulin resistance age cells
Conditions known to hasten diabetes in people may also speed aging.
