Uncategorized
- Genetics
Prion disease gets personal
Diagnosis of a brain-wasting disease drove a married couple into science.
- Earth
‘Eruption’ looks back at devastating Mount St. Helens blast
In Eruption, a science writer recounts the societal, economic and geologic forces that contributed to the Mount St. Helens disaster.
- Agriculture
FDA to test foods for controversial herbicide
Amid controversy and conflicting studies, the FDA will test food for glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the world.
- Psychology
Psychologist probes possible link between prodigy, autism
The Prodigy’s Cousin explores the baffling world of child prodigies and people with autism.
- Microbes
Missing gut microbes linked to childhood malnutrition
The right mix of gut microbes could prevent kids from succumbing to malnutrition.
- Archaeology
Easter Island people used sharpened stones as tools, not weapons
Sharp-edged stone tools enabled daily survival, not warfare, on Easter Island.
- Materials Science
New carbon cluster has high storage capacity
A new carbon structure could store gases or liquids in honeycomb-shaped cells.
- Chemistry
After 75 years, plutonium is still NASA’s fuel of choice
On the 75th anniversary of the discovery of plutonium, the radioactive element is still not a major source of fuel for nuclear power plants in the United States.
- Humans
Human DNA found in a Neandertal woman
Interbreeding between humans and Neandertals happened earlier than thought, leaving traces in the Neandertal genome.
- Astronomy
Black hole heavyweights triggered gravity wave event
Those gravity waves came from two black holes more massive than any known outside a galactic core and formed in an environment different than the Milky Way.
- Planetary Science
120 seconds in Pluto’s shadow
A 747 outfitted with a telescope worked with New Horizons to reveal details about Pluto’s atmosphere.
- Health & Medicine
Lead’s damage can last a lifetime, or longer
Scientists have known for decades that lead is toxic to the brain, but the mark lead exposure leaves on children may actually stretch into adulthood, and perhaps even future generations.
