Uncategorized
- Humans
Sing a Song of Science
These children’s tunes, produced in the late ’50s and early ’60s have a certain nostalgic innocence. At least some are traditional tunes given new expository lyrics. They deal with astronomy (like the “Constellation Jig”), energy (“Ultra Violet and Infra Red”), experimentation (“Vibration”), weather (“Warm Fronts, Cold Fronts”), and nature (“What Is a Mammal?” and “How […]
- Animals
Farm girl has the chops
The first big family tree presenting the history of fungus-growing ants shows the leaf-cutters as the newest branch, and a very recent one at that.
- Health & Medicine
Mouse, Heal Thyself: Therapeutic cloning from a mouse’s own cells
Mice with a Parkinson's disease–like condition benefited from receiving new nerve cells made through therapeutic cloning of their own cells.
- Health & Medicine
Still Waters: Skin disease microbe tracked to ponds, swamps
Scientists establish pond water as the natural environment of Mycobacterium ulcerans, the cause of the skin disease Buruli ulcer.
- Materials Science
Live Another Day: African insect survives drought in glassy state
When dehydrated, the larvae of an African fly replace the water in their cells with a sugar, which solidifies and helps keep cellular structures intact.
- Anthropology
European Roots: Human ancestors go back in time in Spanish cave
Excavations of a cave in northern Spain have yielded a fossil jaw and tooth that provide the first solid evidence that human ancestors reached Western Europe more than 1 million years ago.
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Calorie Kick: Desire for sweets not only a matter of taste
Chemical fireworks in the brain's reward system explode in response to calories, independent of flavor, suggests a new study of mice.
- Planetary Science
Gassy Geysers: Cassini surveys Saturn’s moon
NASA's Cassini spacecraft had a close encounter with the giant vapor plume gushing from Saturn's tiny moon Enceladus.
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Foul Play: Genetics may affect athlete doping tests
Athletes' genetic makeup may allow them to beat anti-doping tests.
- Planetary Science
Titan may harbor underground ocean
Observations by the Cassini spacecraft hint that Saturn's smog-shrouded moon Titan may harbor a global ocean of water and ammonia 100 kilometers below its surface.
- Tech
Power from heat
A more efficient material that converts heat into electricity could make a new kind of solar panel possible.
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Fingerprinting fugitive microbes
A new computational tool can identify engineered bacteria by finding the genetic "fingerprints" that distinguish altered bacteria from natural ones.
