Feature
- Health & Medicine
Taking a Jab at Cancer
Vaccines that train a person's immune system to kill cancerous cells, when combined with drugs that block tumor defense mechanisms, are starting to show promise.
- Anthropology
Red-Ape Stroll
Wild orangutans regularly walk upright through the trees, raising the controversial possibility that the two-legged stance is not unique to hominids.
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- Computing
Virtual Surgery
Computer simulations of blood flow in the heart allow doctors to test surgical innovations before trying them on patients.
- Animals
Not-So-Elementary Bee Mystery
Old-style epidemiology casework combines with an array of 21st-century lab tests in the search for clues to the disappearance of honeybees.
- Physics
The Power of Induction
A new technology based on classical electromagnetic theory uses oscillating magnetic fields to transfer electric power wirelessly across a room.
- Math
Mathematical Lives of Plants
Mathematical models that capture the essence of biological growth mechanisms are beginning to reveal how plants develop structures with intriguingly elegant geometries.
- Health & Medicine
Brain Attack
Although they have explored many promising ideas, scientists are finding it difficult to develop new treatments to limit the damage caused by ischemic strokes.
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- Health & Medicine
Restoring Scents
Experimental treatments may activate the sense of smell in people who can detect few or no odors.
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Trouble in Paradise
Schizophrenia strikes inhabitants of the Micronesian nation of Palau, especially the men, at an unusually high rate, raising questions about culture's role in a disease usually regarded as purely biological.
- Earth
A Gemstone’s Wild Ride
Diamonds may be carried to the surface in explosions of gas and rock fizzing up from deep within Earth's mantle.
