Vol. 182 No. #7
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More Stories from the October 6, 2012 issue

  1. Earth

    Antibacterial agent can weaken muscle

    Triclosan impairs the power of the heart and other muscles in two species and at relatively low doses.

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  2. Earth

    Nanosized pollutants pose crop risks

    Nanoparticles in exhaust and common consumer products can end up in soil and harm the growth and health of crops.

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  3. Earth

    Himalayan melt may be less than thought

    Satellite data suggest net ice loss has been modest.

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  4. Life

    Average bear could be pretty smart

    Computer tests of solitary species reveal animals’ ability to learn concepts.

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  5. Life

    Oldest mites in amber discovered

    Two new species of arthropods found in 230-million-year-old fossilized resin show similarities to modern-day species.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Infrared light offers promise of laser-sharp cancer therapy

    Laser technique targets tumors with reduced risk of side effects compared with conventional chemotherapy.

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  7. Tech

    Unmixing oil and water

    A new filter that separates the two substances only using gravity could help clean oil spills.

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  8. Earth

    Arctic sea ice hits record low, and keeps going

    A summer storm and thinner ice probably contributed to this year’s massive melt.

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  9. Space

    Exoplanet pair orbits two stars

    The Kepler spacecraft catches two exoplanets around a binary star system, with one planet in the habitable zone.

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  10. Health & Medicine

    Brain learns while you snooze

    Mind can make associations between smells and sounds during sleep.

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  11. Space

    Highlights from the IAU Meeting

    A collection of reports from the 28th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union, Beijing.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Low-cal longevity questioned

    Limited food intake in rhesus monkeys fails to extend the animals’ survival, in a departure from earlier reports.

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  13. Space

    Stars’ missing elements could signal lurking small planets

    The sun's chemistry suggests some good other places to hunt for rocky orbs.

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  14. Chemistry

    Big jobs go to loyal proteins

    Cells offload much of their nonessential work on enzymes that juggle a number of tasks.

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  15. Space

    Another potentially habitable world emerges

    The newfound planet orbits a common type of dwarf star, suggesting even more may be out there.

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  16. Health & Medicine

    Military combat marks the brain

    Regions involved in memory and attention changed after soldiers' deployment, though most eventually returned to their pre-combat state.

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  17. Earth

    Earth & Environment

    Soot’s contributions to global warming may be overestimated, and unusual source of oceans’ methane discovered.

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  18. Life

    Team releases sequel to the human genome

    ENCODE reveals the machinery that switches genes on and off.

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  19. Chemistry

    Water boils sans bubbles

    Insulating steam keeps a superhot object from splattering the soup.

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  20. Neuroscience

    Nonstick trick in the brain

    Getting drugs into the brain has proved to be a nanoscale puzzle: Anything bigger than 64 nanometers — about the size of a small virus — gets stuck in the space between brain cells once it gets through the blood-brain barrier. Justin Hanes of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and colleagues got around this rule by coating particles destined for brain cells in a dense layer of a polymer called polyethylene glycol.

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  21. Science Future for the issue of October 6, 2012

    October 13–31 Aspiring scientists of all ages can light up a jack-o’-lantern with chemistry, make slime or dissect a cow eye at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. See the Spooky Science series at bit.ly/SFspooky October 30 An astrophysicist discusses how scientists find and study planets orbiting other stars at the Hayden Planetarium in […]

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  22. SN Online

    HUMANS Some judges may be more lenient when criminals offer biological explanations for their behavior. See “Psychopaths get time off for bad brains.” NASA, ESA, Sean Farrell/Sydney Institute for Astronomy ATOM & COSMOSAstronomers see a black hole pick up its matter-sucking activity right on schedule. Read “Black hole’s annual feast begins.” BODY & BRAIN Changing […]

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  23. Health & Medicine

    Exploring the science of cooking

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  24. Oceans

    Soundings

    The Story of the Remarkable Woman Who Mapped the Ocean Floor by Hali Felt.

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  25. Animals

    Face Smarts

    Macaques, sheep and even wasps may join people as masters at facial recognition.

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  26. Health & Medicine

    Tricks Foods Play

    Most people would never equate downing a well-dressed salad or a fried chicken thigh with toking a joint of marijuana. But to Joseph Hibbeln of the National Institutes of Health, the comparison isn’t a big stretch.

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  27. Science & Society

    Letters

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  28. Tech

    Science Past from the issue of October 6, 1962

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  29. Paleontology

    The Last Lost World

    Ice Ages, Human Origins, and the Invention of the Pleistocene, by Lydia V. Pyne and Stephen J. Pyne.

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