News
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EarthSave the frogs
Researchers have drafted a proposed $400 million research-and-rescue plan for the world's amphibians, at least half of which are in decline or even facing serious risk of extinction.
By Janet Raloff -
HumansAnti-TB spending abroad could save money overall
Investing $44 million in tuberculosis-control programs in Mexico, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic might save the United States nearly triple that amount over the next 20 years.
By Ben Harder -
Health & MedicineAcne medicines can be a pain in the throat
Treatment with antibiotics for acne might predispose an individual to getting severe upper respiratory infections.
By Nathan Seppa -
PaleontologyDNA pegs Irish elk’s nearest relatives
Analyses of DNA of the Irish elk, which died out after the last ice age, may settle a long-running debate about the creature's place on the deer family tree.
By Sid Perkins -
Health & MedicineSilenced gene may foretell colon cancer
A cancer-suppressing gene, which is often shut down in colorectal cancer, is sometimes silenced in healthy colorectal tissues as well.
By Nathan Seppa -
TechGetting a charge out of backpacking
A backpack enhanced with springs, gears, and a generator converts the up-and-down motions of the wearer into enough electricity to power portable electronic gadgets.
By Peter Weiss -
Health & MedicineSharpening the focus of mammograms
Digital mammography can detect up to one-fourth more cancers than traditional film mammography can in women who are under 50, haven't gone through menopause, or who have dense breast tissue.
By Nathan Seppa -
EarthPack Rat Piles: Rodent rubbish provides ice age thermometer
Analyses of fossilized plant remnants collected by pack rats reveal that the Grand Canyon was much cooler than previously thought during the latter part of the last ice age.
By Katie Greene -
***Notice to Subscribers in Areas Affected by Hurricane Katrina***
The U.S. Postal Service has asked magazine publishers to suspend subscription mailings to areas that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Science News subscribers in those areas won't be charged for issues that are withheld, and their subscriptions will be extended. Mailings will resume upon notification by the USPS that delivery is reinstated.
By Science News -
EarthOrganic Choice: Pesticides vanish from body after change in diet
Children can eliminate their bodies' loads of agricultural pesticides by eating organically grown products.
By Ben Harder -
AnimalsBalls of Fire: Bees carefully cook invaders to death
Honeybees that defend their colonies by killing wasps with body heat come within 5 degrees C of cooking themselves in the process.
By Susan Milius -
EarthDim View: Darkening skies a regional phenomenon
The decline in the solar radiation reaching Earth's surface in the latter half of the 20th century turns out to have been mostly a regional phenomenon.
By Sid Perkins