Uncategorized
- Physics
Hot little levers write beaucoup bits
Arrays of microscopic tips may offer a way to pack digital data more tightly and transfer it more quickly than is possible with magnetic hard disks.
By Peter Weiss - Physics
Light step toward quantum networks
During the transfer of a quantum data bit from matter to light, a cloud of extremely cold atoms emitted a photon carrying a version of the cloud's quantum state.
By Peter Weiss - Agriculture
Frozen Assets
A U.S. gene bank has begun deep-freezing semen and other livestock 'seed' for possible future use in research or breeding.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Assault on Autism
A shift in scientific thinking about what causes autism is prompting a closer look at potential environmental factors.
- Physics
When all is a spin, calm is dragged in
When laboratory vortices are mixed to create the equivalent of a tornado in a hurricane, the "hurricane" may gobble up spots of calm from the outside world.
By Peter Weiss - Health & Medicine
Marker signals esophageal cancer
Silencing of the gene that encodes the cancer-suppressing protein APC is common in people with esophageal cancer, suggesting that physicians might use this genetic abnormality as a marker for the disease.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Is penicillin-allergy rate overstated?
A study finds that 20 of 21 people who reported having a penicillin allergy when filling out paperwork during a hospital visit in fact don't have one, suggesting that the prevalence of this allergy is overstated.
By Nathan Seppa -
Man’s brain incurs disgusting loss
A brain-damaged man yields clues to the neural organization responsible for experiencing disgust.
By Bruce Bower -
Brain sets sights on mind’s eye
Brain regions implicated in vision may also contribute to the images in the "mind's eye."
By Bruce Bower - Astronomy
More moons for Saturn
With the discovery of two additional moons, the ringed planet now has a retinue of 24 known satellites orbiting it.
By Ron Cowen - Astronomy
What a blast!
Astronomers have glimpsed a rare, long-lived neutron-star explosion that may represent the burning of carbon just beneath the surface of this superdense star.
By Ron Cowen - Health & Medicine
Weight Matters, Even in the Womb
Status at birth can foreshadow illnesses decades later.