More Stories from the October 25, 2008 issue
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Health & MedicineThis is the brain on age
The activity of genes in men's brains begins to change sooner than it does in women's brains, a new study shows.
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Space
Lowdown on the sun
The current solar minimum is the lowest — and one of the longest — recorded in the past 50 years, since modern measurements began.
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Health & Medicine
Window of opportunity for stroke treatment widens
Use of clot-busting drugs as long as 4½ hours after an event pays dividends later.
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Life
Safer creation of stem cells
A new technique for converting adult cells to stem cells avoids dangerous mutations in cell DNA
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Life
X chromosome is extra diverse
Men who father children with multiple women are responsible for “extra” diversity on the X chromosome, a new study of six different populations suggests.
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Space
Galaxies on the move
Scientists discover "dark flow" -- the unexplained streaming of galactic clusters across the universe.
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Life
Curtain drops after ants’ final act
A handful of ants remain outside to close the colony door at sunset and sacrifice their lives in the act.
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Paleontology
Forget bird-brained
Scientists have uncovered a new dinosaur that breathed like a bird.
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Planetary Science
Water’s role in Martian chemistry becoming clearer
As mission nears end, Phoenix Mars Lander finds strong evidence for minerals similar to those formed on Earth by liquid water.
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Life
Old fish, new fish, red fish, blue fish
A difference in vision in cichlids in Lake Victoria could be pushing a species to split into two.
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Health & Medicine
Don’t forget diet composition
Caloric restriction, an antiaging technique, fails to lower levels of IGF-1, a growth factor that, in high amounts, is linked to cancer in humans. But cutting protein along with calories does decrease IGF-1.
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Physics
Diamonds engage at the nano scale
Manipulating the quantum properties of diamond impurities makes diamond into a kind of microscope that could, for example, reveal the inner working of cells.
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Life
Bicoastal Atlantic bluefin tuna
Mediterranean and western Atlantic bluefin tuna spend more time in mixed groups than previously thought, suggesting management strategies need to be revisited.
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Physics
Charging up fuel injection
A new device uses an electric field to increase cars’ gas mileage.
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Health & Medicine
Nobel Prize in medicine given for HIV, HPV discoveries
Three Europeans recognized for linking viruses to AIDS, cervical cancer.
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Physics
Nobel Prize in physics shared for work that unifies forces of nature
Understanding of broken symmetry has been crucial to the standard model of particle physics.
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Chemistry
Nobel Prize in chemistry commends finding and use of green fluorescent protein
One researcher is awarded for discovering the protein that helps jellyfish glow and two for making the protein into a crucial tool for biologists.
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Climate
Cooling climate ‘consensus’ of 1970s never was
Myth often cited by global warming skeptics debunked.
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U.S. must invest in technologies to avoid energy crisis
Steven Chu, director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a Nobel laureate in physics, has advocated for energy thrift. During a September visit to Washington, D.C., he spoke with senior editor Janet Raloff about how he believes the United States can tackle what he sees as a looming energy crisis. You’ve said the United States […]
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Astronomy
Ultramassive: as big as it gets
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 If asked to name stupendously amazing things in space, most people would probably pick black holes. These evil-tinged clowns of the universe are definite wows. Insatiable is their middle name. BLACK HOLE TAXONOMY | Click to enlarge for a primer on black hole taxonomy. Design: J. Korenblat ULTRAMASSIVE | […]
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Health & Medicine
Body In Mind
With gargantuan ears, gleaming brown eyes, a fuzzy white muzzle and a squat, furry body, Leonardo looks like a magical creature from a Harry Potter book. He’s actually a robot powered by an innovative set of silicon innards. THE SMARTEST GREMLIN | Leo (shown here without all of his outer covering) can learn from others. […]