Vol. 189 No. 5
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03/15/16 cover

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More Stories from the March 5, 2016 issue

  1. Tech

    Tracking health is no sweat with new device

    New all-in-one electronic device can detect and analyze your temperature and four chemicals in your sweat.

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  2. Archaeology

    Babylonians used geometry to track Jupiter’s movements

    Babylonians took a geometric leap to track Jupiter’s movements long before European astronomers did.

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  3. Genetics

    Mice can be male without Y chromosome

    Researchers bypass the Y chromosome to make male mice.

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  4. Climate

    Phytoplankton rapidly disappearing from the Indian Ocean

    Phytoplankton populations in the Indian Ocean fell 30 percent over the last 16 years largely due to global warming, new research suggests.

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  5. Life

    Removing worn-out cells makes mice live longer and prosper

    Senescent cells promote aging, and removing them makes mice live longer, healthier lives.

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  6. Neuroscience

    Mouse study offers clues to brain’s response to concussions

    The brain needs time to recover between head hits, a study in mice suggests.

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  7. Animals

    White-tailed deer have their own form of malaria

    The otherwise well-studied white-tailed deer turns out to carry the first malaria parasite discovered in any deer.

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  8. Neuroscience

    Cancer drug’s usefulness against Alzheimer’s disputed

    A preliminary report questions the anti-Alzheimer’s activity of a cancer-fighting drug.

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  9. Particle Physics

    Physicists find signs of four-neutron nucleus

    Strong evidence of a tetraneutron, an atomic nucleus with four neutrons but no protons, defies physicists’ theoretical expectations.

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  10. Environment

    Urban heat islands exist even in the Arctic

    Arctic cities are a source of warming in the far north. Unlike midlatitude heat islands, poorly insulated buildings — not the sun — are a primary source.

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  11. Physics

    Gravity waves from black holes verify Einstein’s prediction

    Gravitational waves, tremors in the cosmic fabric of space and time predicted by Einstein a century ago, have finally been detected, opening a new avenue for exploring the universe.

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  12. Genetics

    Neandertal DNA may raise risk for some modern human diseases

    Neandertal DNA may once have helped humans, but now may contribute to disease.

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  13. Earth

    New app puts an earthquake detector in your pocket

    Smartphone app MyShake uses motion-sensing accelerometers to detect nearby quakes. The app could provide early warnings of incoming tremors, its creators say.

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  14. Environment

    Vaping linked to host of new health risks

    Animal studies and analyses of gene activity point to broad range of potential new health risks from vaping affecting everything from sperm to heart and immunity to mental health.

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  15. Neuroscience

    Early exposure to signing helps deaf kids on mental task

    Deaf kids exposed to sign language from birth performed better on a task that required attention and impulse control.

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  16. Astronomy

    Planets may emerge from stellar duo gathering icy dust

    Gas freezing onto dust grains around a binary star could be setting up a site where comets or even planets might someday form.

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  17. Neuroscience

    Tiny bare-bones brains made in lab dishes

    A reliable way to make standard-issue minibrains could help scientists study the human brain.

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  18. Tech

    New clues illuminate mysteries of ancient Egyptian portraits

    New analyses shed light on how ancient Egyptian “mummy paintings” were made.

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  19. Life

    Memory cells enhance strategy for fighting blood cancers

    Immune therapy made more powerful with memory T cells.

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  20. 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.

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  21. Genetics

    Prion disease gets personal

    Diagnosis of a brain-wasting disease drove a married couple into science.

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  22. Psychology

    Psychologist probes possible link between prodigy, autism

    The Prodigy’s Cousin explores the baffling world of child prodigies and people with autism.

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  23. Genetics

    DNA may determine if you’re an early bird or night owl

    Morning people are more likely to have certain variations in their DNA, but less likely to have insomnia or sleep apnea.

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  24. Tech

    Machine triumphs in strategy game

    For the first time, a computer has beat a professional human player in the strategy game Go.

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