Uncategorized
- Ecosystems
Biota Behaving Badly
Members of an established ecosystem develop a sense of balance, usually permitting at least limited biodiversity and a stable structure. When interlopers arrive that aren’t responsive to the same environmental checks and balances, they can overrun the ecosystem, eliminating some members and quickly dominating others. Such bullying immigrants are known as invasive species—and they can […]
- Health & Medicine
New Clues: Gene variations may contribute to MS risk
Variants of two genes encoding immune system proteins may confer a higher risk for multiple sclerosis.
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- Chemistry
Soot Sense: Test tallies exposure to diesel pollution
A chemical in urine reveals a person's exposure to diesel exhaust.
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Fatherless Stem Cells: Scientific fraud involved an accidental advance
Stem cells that discredited researcher Woo Suk Hwang claimed as the first example of human cloning actually came from embryos that contained only the mother's genetic material.
- Planetary Science
G Whiz! Craft identifies source of faint Saturnian ring
The Cassini spacecraft has discovered the source of particles that make up Saturn's G ring.
- Earth
Asian Forecast: Hazy, Warmer—Clouds of pollution heat lower atmosphere
Clouds of smoke and soot that blanket many regions of Asia heat the lower atmosphere by the same amount that rising greenhouse gases do.
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19866
Conservation by America is not going to decrease global warming. We need to imitate known global-cooling events, such as the Krakatoa volcano explosion, which spread sunlight-reflecting dust into the stratosphere in 1883. A hydrogen bomb exploded inside a ship full of white clay could be a first step. Daniel ShanefieldHonolulu, Hawaii Recent research suggests that […]
- Health & Medicine
Waking Up: Brain stimulator spurs dramatic improvement years after injury
A man who spent 6 years in a minimally conscious state regained the ability to talk, eat, and move after doctors implanted electrodes deep in his brain.
- Earth
Slick Death: Oil-spill treatment kills coral
Chemicals used to disperse marine oil spills are more harmful to coral than the oil itself.
- Paleontology
Dinosaurs’ gradual rise to dominance
Early dinosaurs didn't quickly eclipse the creatures they evolved from, but lived alongside them for perhaps 20 million years.
- Earth
Metal spews from tires and brake pads
A study in Stockholm says that tires and brake pads emit a variety of metal pollutants despite European regulations aimed at cleaning up these parts.
