Uncategorized
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Hungry spiders tune up web jiggliness
Octonoba spiders tune the sensitivity of their webs according to how hungry they are.
- Agriculture
Toxic bugs taint large numbers of cattle
U.S. cattle have dramatically higher rates of infection with a virulent food-poisoning bacterium than had been realized, a factor that leads to widespread carcass contamination during slaughter.
- Astronomy
Craft spies new class of gamma-ray sources
Roughly half the 120 unidentified sources of high-energy gamma-ray emissions in the Milky Way—those at midgalactic latitudes—may comprise a new class of objects and originate from a belt of massive stars that lies only a few hundred light-years from the solar system.
- Planetary Science
Unveiling Mars’ watery secret
A new gravity map of Mars has revealed a network of buried channels that billions of years ago may have been on the surface and helped carry water to fill an ancient ocean.
- Astronomy
X-ray telescope vanishes
Astro-E, a Japanese X-ray observatory, fell back to Earth and burned up just after launch on Feb. 9.
- Health & Medicine
Myopia link to night lights doubted
Two studies cast doubt on the apparent link between night lights in a baby's nursery and an increased risk of being nearsighted later in childhood.
- Health & Medicine
Coagulation factor XI boosts clot risk
People who have had a major blood clot in a vein are roughly twice as likely to harbor high concentrations of blood coagulation factor XI as people who haven't.
- Chemistry
Heat spurs growth of tiny carbon trees
Microscopic carbon forests can grow on a graphite surface without the help of catalysts.
- Chemistry
Air knocks the wind out of nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes are very sensitive to oxygen, an effect that could limit their use in open-air applications.
- Chemistry
Sensor sniffs out spoiled fish
A new electronic nose detects amine compounds produced when fish decay.
- Health & Medicine
Chocolate Hearts
Preliminary studies indicate that moderate consumption of chocolate products may offer cardiovascular benefits.
- Chemistry
Molecules Leave Their Mark
A material etched with tiny, carefully shaped pores can act like an artificial enzyme, cell membrane, or receptor.
