Uncategorized
- Health & Medicine
Immune cells rush to gut in food allergy
In mice, allergic reactions to food coincide with an accumulation of white blood cells called eosinophils in the small intestine.
By Nathan Seppa - Tech
Optical biopsy hunts would-be cancers
A new optical tool allows physicians to scout for precancerous tissue by analyzing the fluorescent responses of cells when light is shone on them.
By Janet Raloff - Astronomy
A comet’s odd orbit hints at hidden planet
Far beyond the solar system's nine known planets, a body as massive as Mars may once have been part of our planetary system, and it might still be there.
By Ron Cowen -
Fungi slay insects and feed host plants
Researchers are discovering that some plants get their nutrients by robbing nitrogen from the flesh of soil-dwelling insects.
By Linda Wang -
RNA world gets support as prelife scenario
Scientists tinkering with a chemical now vital to life think they've recreated one of the central molecules that gave rise to the chemistry of life.
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18924
“Early Brazilians unveil African look” was a very interesting article containing an interesting idea. But some of us guessed the connection all along. Check out Olmec-age stones heads [in the Americas]. These images are African. However, it’s a good bet that migration came from both Asia and Africa. Gloria Harrison Raleigh, N.C.
By Science News - Anthropology
Early Brazilians Unveil African Look
Prehistoric human skulls found in Brazil share some traits with modern Africans, leading a Brazilian scientist to theorize that Africans rather than Asians first arrived in the Americas sometime before 11,000 years ago.
By Bruce Bower - Astronomy
A Dark Force in the Universe
Cosmologists are thinking dark thoughts about what kind of mystery force may be contorting the cosmos, pushing galaxies apart at a faster and faster rate.
By Ron Cowen -
Do eggs go cuckoo under UV light?
People don't see ultraviolet light but birds do, so studies of egg mimickry may need to stop relying so much on human vision.
By Susan Milius -
Gender-bending flowers spice forests
In a newly discovered trick for avoiding self-pollination, ginger flowers take turns at gender roles, switching from female to male or vice versa in unison around lunchtime.
By Susan Milius -
Gray Matters
Once believed to be a supporting cast, the brain cells called astrocytes appear to play important roles in many brain scenarios.
- Physics
Surface reaction recorded in real time
Ultrafast laser pulses may have for the first time revealed the incredibly rapid, step-by-step progress of a complete chemical reaction on a surface, at the actual speed at which it took place.
By Peter Weiss