Vol. 184
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More Stories from the October 5, 2013 issue

  1. Health & Medicine

    Gut-brain communication failure may spur overeating

    Restoring a depleted molecule in obese mice repaired their abnormal response to food.

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  2. Astronomy

    Pictures of young star show unusual outbursts

    Ejections from stellar newborn move faster and in different directions than astronomers thought.

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  3. Life

    Bacteria can cause pain on their own

    Microbes caused discomfort in mice by activating nerves, not the immune system.

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  4. Animals

    For sheep horns, bigger is not better

    Trade-offs between studliness and survival keep less endowed sheep in the mix.

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  5. Astronomy

    To determine stars’ physical traits, Kepler sees the light

    Measuring stellar brightness can yield useful estimates of stars' size and evolutionary stage, and help in the hunt for planets.

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  6. Astronomy

    ‘Space beads’ push back origins of iron working

    Ancient Egyptians used advanced techniques to make beads out of 'metal from the sky.'

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  7. Psychology

    Behavioral research may overstate results

    'Soft' sciences inflate support for what scientists expected to find, data check suggests.

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  8. Humans

    Babies learn words before birth

    Brain responses suggest infants can distinguish distinct words from altered versions that they learned in the womb.

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  9. Life

    A fight between gut parasites means a win for people

    Worms and Giardia can antagonize each other in the human intestinal tract, study of people in the Amazon suggests.

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  10. Life

    Flu antibodies can make disease worse

    Pigs vaccinated against one influenza virus got lung damage if infected with another strain.

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  11. Climate

    Global warming hiatus tied to cooler temps in Pacific

    Average air temperatures' rise has paused, but not stopped, because of normal variation in ocean temperatures.

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  12. Psychology

    Poverty may tax thinking abilities

    Scarce funds reduce mental abilities of U.S. shoppers and Indian farmers, experiments suggest.

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  13. Astronomy

    The sun’s older twin, 250 light-years away

    Almost twice as ancient, the distant star gives a glimpse of the sun's future.

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  14. Animals

    Traveling with elders helps whooping cranes fly straight

    Rare data show birds get more efficient the more they migrate along route between Wisconsin and Florida.

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  15. Climate

    No more Superstorm Sandys expected for a long time

    Future conditions less likely to steer hurricanes directly into the East Coast, analysis suggests.

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  16. Health & Medicine

    Test could warn of problems for kidney transplant recipients

    A urine test for an immune protein might tell doctors whether a patient is headed for trouble.

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  17. Animals

    New fungus species found killing salamanders

    First there was amphibian killer fungus Bd. Now there's Bs.

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  18. Neuroscience

    Video game sharpens up elderly brains

    Adults over 60 who played for several hours a month beat untrained 20-year-olds in racing game.

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  19. Animals

    Rats induced into hibernation-like state

    Injection of compound causes animals to slow heartbeat, lower body temperature.

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  20. Health & Medicine

    Gut infections keep mice lean

    Bacteria can invade one rodent from another, preventing both from getting fat.

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  21. Health & Medicine

    Device offers promise of no brain tumor left behind

    A new technique might allow surgeons to identify with precision where brain cancer ends and healthy tissue begins.

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  22. Humans

    Babies perk up to sounds of ancient hazards

    Evolution has primed infants to focus on noises linked to longstanding dangers, a new study finds.

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  23. Chemistry

    Meteorite that fell last year contains surprising molecules

    Compounds in space rocks like the one that broke up over California may have helped seed life on Earth.

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  24. Health & Medicine

    Fructose may be key to weight gain

    Mice that could not make or metabolize the sugar gained less weight than normal mice.

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  25. Math

    Thinking In Numbers

    On Life, Love, Meaning, and Math by Daniel Tammet.

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  26. Space

    Exploring Earth’s alien spaces

    Nathalie Cabrol, a planetary geologist and astrobiologist at the SETI Institute’s Carl Sagan Center and NASA’s Ames Research Center, both in Mountain View, Calif., hunts for alien life.

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  27. Life

    Dangerous Digs

    By properly managing a tumor cell’s microenvironment, cancer researchers are making cancer something people live with, not die from.

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  28. Environment

    Cool Idea

    While nations concede a pressing need for attacking carbon dioxide emissions, other pollutants offer quicker paybacks.

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  29. Life

    Letters to the editor

    Sleepless on a schedule, Edison's rubbery discovery and monogamy not just for men.

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  30. Science & Society

    Coming soon: Science News any way you want it

    On October 2, we will launch a new and expanded Science News website. And starting with the October 19 issue, all print subscribers will have access to a new iPad version of Science News, at no additional charge. You’ll also notice a smart new look for the magazine.

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  31. Cosmology

    Huge Galactic Explosion

    An excerpt from the October 5, 1963, issue of Science News Letter.

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  32. Animals

    Cat Sense

    How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet by John Bradshaw.

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