Uncategorized
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Aging Factor: Gene mutations may be key to long life
Some centenarians carry mutations in a pathway associated with longevity in worms and fruit flies.
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Riff Riders: Brain scans tune in to jazz improvisers
Accomplished jazz pianists are able to improvise musical passages thanks in part to a set of reactions at the front of the brain that free self-expression from conscious monitoring and self-censorship.
- Earth
Ancient Chasm: Parts of Grand Canyon may be 17 million years old
The chemical composition of mineral formations in caves along the Grand Canyon may provide fresh insight into the chasm's history, including its age and the rate at which it was carved.
- Health & Medicine
Cancer Risk: Colon growths might not be so obvious
Some colorectal growths that are precancerous aren't polyps.
- Math
The Geometry of Music
Music is an audible exploration of hyperdimensional geometries, according to new research.
- Tech
Finding mass graves from on high
Aerial surveys that scan the ground at many wavelengths, some visible and some not, may offer a way to quickly and easily detect mass grave sites.
- Humans
Calling all clues …
Add flip-open cell phones to the list of crime-scene items that might harbor a suspect's DNA.
- Earth
Some corals buffered from warming
Corals in the western Pacific have escaped bleaching linked to rising ocean temperatures.
- Humans
Encyclopedia of Life starts online—at times
The project to create an online Encyclopedia of Life with a Web page for every species has taken its first, baby steps. The free-access, scientifically vetted encyclopedia, headquartered at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., opened its first portal to preliminary Web pages (www.eol.org) Feb. 26. Some 11 million hits in the first few hours […]
- Health & Medicine
Raising doubts about Crohn’s treatment
The conventional drug regimen prescribed for people with Crohn’s disease might not be the best strategy, a new study shows. Crohn’s disease is marked by inflammation and ulcers in the intestines. It has no cure, but patients often get relief from corticosteroids, such as prednisone, the standard medication for flare-ups. If those don’t work, doctors […]
- Health & Medicine
Fungi aid immune system’s fight
Scientists have discovered that white button mushrooms, the plain Janes of edible fungi, are actually quite stimulating. Their powder seems to jump-start the immune response of cells taken from mice, a new study finds. MUSHROOM MIGHT. Adding white button–mushroom powder to incubating immune system cells from mice revved up the cells’ development and their response […]
- Earth
Manifest dirt
Nineteenth-century settlers left a dusty mark on the West. Rocky Mountain lake deposits reveal that America’s westward expansion kicked huge amounts of dirt into the air—probably from livestock grazing. A team led by Jason Neff, a biogeochemist at the University of Colorado in Boulder, examined soil cores from the beds of tiny mountain lakes in […]
