Uncategorized
- Climate
Tranquil ecosystems may explain wild swings in carbon dioxide stashing
Semiarid ecosystems, such as grasslands and shrublands, are behind the large variation in the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide sucked in by land each year.
- Genetics
Mutations that drive cancer lurk in healthy skin
Healthy tissue carries mutations that drive cancer, samples of normal skin cells show.
- Neuroscience
Brain implants let paralyzed man move robotic arm
Implanting tiny silicon chips in the action-planning part of a paralyzed man’s brain let him smoothly control a robotic limb with his thoughts.
- Genetics
Ancient DNA pushes back timing of the origin of dogs
DNA extracted from the fossil of an ancient wolf indicates dogs and wolves diverged longer ago than previously thought.
- Animals
Octopuses can ‘see’ with their skin
Eyes aren’t the only cephalopod body parts with light-catching molecules.
- Materials Science
Like a balloon, peculiar magnet grows and shrinks
A recently discovered alloy of iron and gallium can expand and contract like a balloon when exposed to a magnetic field.
- Archaeology
Earliest known stone tools unearthed in Kenya
East African discoveries suggest stone-tool making started at least 3.3 million years ago.
- Astronomy
Peeks into early life of supernovas show how to blow up a star
Multiple supernovas show off some of the ways a star can explode.
- Science & Society
Gene therapy, Gattaca-style, poses ethical issues
Gene therapy becomes more sophisticated, and the debate over the ethics of DNA tinkering grows.
- Paleontology
Suds versus nanoparticles and more reader feedback
Readers discuss the posture of an ancient reptile and why washing machines and nanoparticles don't mix.
- Health & Medicine
Snagging blood clots upgrades stroke care
A new device threaded up to the brain via catheter can unblock vessels in cerebral arteries, studies show.
- Planetary Science
Sea salt may stripe Europa’s surface
Salt deposits on Jupiter’s moon Europa might be responsible for brown stripes on the icy satellite’s surface.
