Uncategorized

  1. Climate

    California drought worst in at least 1,200 years

    The current California drought is the most severe in 1,200 years, according to historical information gleaned from tree rings.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Fatty coat on cancer drugs protects the heart

    Cancer drugs encased in a layer of fat reduce but don’t eliminate heart damage.

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  3. Environment

    Black carbon fouls New York subway stations

    Black carbon, a respiratory irritant, fouls air in New York subway stations.

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  4. Climate

    Greenhouse gases may spell wet future for Africa

    Greenhouse gases played a role in boosting rainfall in Africa 14,000 to 21,000 years ago, a finding that may help predict future abundance of water on the continent.

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  5. Life

    Electric eels remote-control nervous systems of prey

    Electric eels’ high-voltage zaps turn a prey fish against itself, making it freeze in place or betray a hiding place.

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  6. Planetary Science

    Ancient moon’s mega magnetic field explained

    Apollo-era moon rocks reveal ancient lunar magnetic field was at least as powerful as the one surrounding modern Earth.

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  7. Health & Medicine

    A look back at 2013’s disasters

    The Philippines, India and China each lost more than 1,000 lives in 2013 in mass calamities.

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  8. Microbes

    Microbes floating among clouds may munch on sugar

    Floating in a cloud and noshing sweets while wrapped in a cozy bubble sounds like a pleasant dream. For some lucky bacteria, it may be a reality.

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  9. Materials Science

    Carbon supplants silicon in electronic medical sensors

    Prototypes of electronic medical devices constructed from organic materials are noninvasive yet offer similar performance as silicon-based health sensors.

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  10. Earth

    Feedback

    Readers comment on changing bird populations, question the usefulness of a new medical test and discuss the interesting physics behind rainbows.

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  11. Planetary Science

    Preparing for disaster, celebrating success

    Science cannot prevent all disasters or solve all the problems they spawn, but it can point to the best ways to prepare, making disasters less damaging than they might otherwise be

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Old drug reduces herpes symptoms, spread in animal tests

    The antidepressant tranylcypromine might also work as antiviral against herpes, animal studies suggest.

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