Uncategorized

  1. Letters

    Water at the start, and later “Liquid acquisition” (SN: 1/15/11, p. 26) discusses two new models about how Earth got its water. But the two models are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, I wonder if perhaps two (or more) sources of water may be the only way to match all of the observed isotopic abundances. Is […]

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  2. Japan crisis may have little effect on U.S. energy policy

    Whatever the ultimate repercussions of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accident in Japan (see Page 6), the crisis raises questions over the role nuclear power should play as an energy source. Michael Levi, head of the energy security and climate change program at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, spoke to reporters […]

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  3. Chemistry

    Silicene: It could be the new graphene

    Single-layer sheets of silicon might have electronic applications.

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  4. Health & Medicine

    Body & Brain

    Handling fruit can throw off blood-glucose tests, plus an autism gene and itchy feelings in this week’s news.

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  5. Earth

    Global gale warning

    Over the world’s oceans, the strongest winds may be getting more powerful, a new study shows.

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  6. Humans

    Go east, ancient tool makers

    New finds put African hand ax makers in India as early as 1.5 million years ago.

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  7. Humans

    A new glimpse at the earliest Americans

    Along a stream in central Texas, archaeologists have found a campsite occupied at the tail end of the Ice Age.

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  8. Physics

    Diamond could store quantum information

    A new technique would use flaws in crystal structure to hold data.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Gene therapy for Parkinson’s advances

    Brain surgery to insert genetic cargo improves movement in some patients, a study shows.

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  10. Life

    Brain chemical influences sexual preference in mice

    Males lacking the neurotransmitter serotonin court both sexes equally, researchers are surprised to find.

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  11. Life

    Life

    Cells can sense a tough road ahead, plus promiscuous amoebas and sensitive birds of prey in this week’s news.

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  12. Life

    Who felt it not, smelt it not

    A genetic defect in a crucial protein stops both pain and smells from reaching the brain.

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