News
- Earth
Twin satellites track water’s rise and fall
A pair of satellites launched in 2002 has detected small, regional changes in Earth's gravitational field that are caused by seasonal variations in rainfall and soil moisture.
- Humans
Where Ph.D.s pay off
Salaries for full-time scientists and engineers in the United States have generally outpaced inflation, but academic researchers tend to earn substantially less than their counterparts in industry and government.
- Materials Science
Charging gold with a single electron
Dropping a single electron onto a gold atom with a scanning tunneling microscope converts gold from its neutral state to an ionic state.
- Tech
Quantum dots light up cancer cells in mice
Brightly fluorescent crystals known as quantum dots have the potential to seek out cancerous cells in the body, a trick that could lead to highly precise cancer screening.
- Humans
Title IX: Women are catching up, but . . .
Though a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in academic settings has fostered women's participation in science, they still lag behind men in salaries and research opportunities.
- Astronomy
Young star’s glow suggests planet find
The X-ray outburst of a young, sunlike star might provide new insights about planet formation.
- Health & Medicine
Computers read mammograms to detect breast cancer
Mammogram–scanning computers can help radiologists detect breast cancers that would otherwise escape diagnosis.
- Planetary Science
A little bit of Mars on Earth
Scouring an ice field in Antarctica, scientists have made the latest discovery of a chunk of rock that was blasted from Mars and fell to Earth.
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Invasive Genes: Humans incorporate DNA from parasite
Bits of foreign DNA from the parasite that causes Chagas' disease becomes integrated into the DNA of infected hosts, marking the first time that parasitic DNA has ever been found in the human genome.
- Chemistry
Velcro Therapy: Branching polymer wards off scarring after eye surgery
Specially designed polymer molecules called dendrimers reduce scar tissue formation after glaucoma surgery, dramatically improving the procedure's outcome.
- Astronomy
Universal Truths: Distant quasars reveal content, age of universe
Using quasars as searchlights on the distant universe, astronomers have mapped the distribution of gas between galaxies with unprecedented precision, allowing precise determinations of the age of the universe.
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Lighting Up the Rainbow: Color perception tied to early visual experience
A study of baby monkeys finds that exposure to natural light in the year after birth fosters their ability to recognize colors as lighting gets brighter or dimmer.
