Uncategorized
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Foster care benefits abandoned kids
Orphan infants living in Romanian institutions who were randomly assigned to receive foster care showed marked improvements in thinking and reasoning skills by age 4-1/2, compared with their peers who remained institutionalized.
- Paleontology
The warm jungles of ancient France
Chemical analyses of amber excavated near Paris suggest that France was covered with a dense tropical forest about 55 million years ago.
- Animals
Purring birds teach their chicks to beg
African birds called pied babblers teach their chicks that certain parental noises mean food is on the way.
- Health & Medicine
Smoking ups risk for type 2 diabetes
Smoking increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by up to 61 percent.
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Life from Scratch
Conjuring life in the lab from nothing but nonliving molecules may sound far-fetched, but the first synthetic life forms may soon be a reality.
- Archaeology
La Brea del Sur
Excavations at tar pits in Venezuela suggest that the fossils found there may rival those of the famed Rancho La Brea tar pits in Southern California.
- Earth
Focus on Our Planet
Although the United Nations has officially designated 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth, the 3-year celebration actually began a year ago and will continue through December 2009. The program’s ultimate goal: “to build safer, healthier and wealthier societies around the globe” through a better appreciation for and harnessing of Earth sciences. The UN […]
- Humans
From the January 1, 1938, issue
Giant electric machines in the works, a mysterious new subatomic particle, and seeking the age of an isthmus.
- Health & Medicine
Addiction Alleviator? Hallucinogen’s popularity grows
The unsanctioned use of an obscure hallucinogen, ibogaine, to treat addiction has exploded recently.
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Reading the Repeats: Cells transcribe telomere DNA
Scientists have discovered that human cells make RNA transcripts of telomeres, the repetitive DNA at the ends of chromosomes, a finding that could have implications for understanding aging and cancer.
- Paleontology
Whales started small
The ancestors of whales, some of which are the largest creatures ever to evolve, probably were mammals no larger than a fox.
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Damage Control: Brain injuries fight off PTSD in vets
Damage to either of two brain regions protects combat veterans against developing the severe stress ailment known as post-traumatic stress disorder, a finding with implications for treating this condition.
