Uncategorized
- Health & Medicine
Early treatment may stave off esophageal cancer
Zapping precancerous tissue in patients with Barrett’s esophagus might reduce incidence of cancer.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
E-cigarettes don’t help smokers quit, study finds
People who tried e-cigarettes no more likely to give up smoking a year later.
By Nathan Seppa - Genetics
Mice lose a gene to drop some weight
Mice lacking gene have less fat, more muscle and lived longer than normal.
- Humans
Former baseball players have big, strong bones in old age
Decades later, health benefits of exercise persist in male athletes’ bones.
By Meghan Rosen - Life
To do: Exhibits to explore in the U.S. and London
Highlights include the impending arrival of a T. rex skeleton in Washington, D.C., a pterosaur exhibit coming to New York City, and the history of longevity at the Royal Society in London.
- Tech
English Channel tunnel
First proposed in 1802 as a tunnel for horse-drawn carriages, the Channel Tunnel, or Chunnel, was built starting in 1987 and opened in 1994.
- Cosmology
Cosmic question mark
Two ways of measuring the universe’s expansion rate disagree by about 10 percent. One of the methods may be flawed. Or it could be that a hitherto unobserved phenomenon is at work.
- Health & Medicine
Sudden death
Cardiologists disagree on whether electrocardiograms should be used to screen student athletes for a rare heart condition that can cause them to die suddenly and without warning.
By Laura Beil - Climate
Kangaroo gut microbes make eco-friendly farts
Understanding kangaroos’ low-methane flatulence could help researchers lower greenhouse gas emissions from livestock.
By Beth Mole - Animals
A parasitic cuckoo can be a good thing
Great spotted cuckoo chicks show that brood parasites may benefit their hosts.
By Susan Milius - Plants
Fossil fern showcases ancient chromosomes
Fossil nuclei and chromosomes seen in a 180-million-year-old fern reveals that the plants have stayed mostly the same.
By Meghan Rosen - Life
Human noses know more than 1 trillion odors
Sense of smell displays a vast reach in study of people’s ability to distinguish between scents.
By Bruce Bower