Uncategorized
- Astronomy
Weighing In on a Star: A stellar size limit
A new study suggests that no star in our galaxy can weigh more than 150 times the mass of the sun.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
Slowpoke: Atmosphere put brakes on meteorite that formed famed crater
The extraterrestrial object that gouged out Arizona's Meteor Crater about 50,000 years ago struck at a speed much slower than most scientists had previously proposed.
By Sid Perkins -
Monkey See, Monkey Think: Grape thefts instigate debate on primate’s mind
Rhesus monkeys treat a competitor's averted eyes as a license to steal his or her food.
By Bruce Bower -
19525
Evidence of animals sensing where people are looking and what they’re seeing is interesting yet hardly new. For years, I have observed that wild rabbits will remain motionless as long as I stare in their direction. But as soon as I avert my eyes or turn my head, the rabbit is gone. Clearly, they correctly […]
By Science News - Health & Medicine
Blindness Hazard: Gene variant tied to macular degeneration
People who make a particular form of an immune system protein have a heightened risk of developing old-age blindness.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Injections cut need for HIV drugs
An experimental vaccine, when given to people infected with HIV, appears to reduce their dependence on antiviral drugs.
By Ben Harder - Humans
Death can outdo ABCs of prevention
Abstinence and monogamy may deserve little, if any, credit for the recent drop in the proportion of Ugandans who are infected with HIV.
By Ben Harder - Humans
Letters from the March 12, 2005, issue of Science News
Cheaters like us? The model for the emergence of a population of “cheaters” out of a population of “cooperators” described in “When Laziness Pays: Math explains how cooperation and cheating evolve” (SN: 1/15/05, p. 35) gives a fresh viewpoint on existing ecosystems—and much more. Might the evolution of asymmetric modern sex from symmetric DNA exchange […]
By Science News - Health & Medicine
Inner-brain electrode may curb depression
Deep-brain electrical stimulation has shown promise in treating severe depression.
- Astronomy
Radiation from a baby star
X-ray telescopes have captured the earliest and clearest view of the core of a gas cloud about to transform into a star.
By Ron Cowen -
Master gene found for insect smell
A single gene may oversee the sense of smell in a variety of insect species.
- Anthropology
Inside view of our wee, ancient cousins
A tiny, humanlike species that inhabited an Indonesian island more than 20,000 years ago possessed a brain that shared some organizational features with Homo erectus, a large-brained human ancestor that thought in complex ways.
By Bruce Bower