News
- Earth
Lava fountain driven by reservoir of gas
The gases driving a lava fountain that spewed from Italy's Mount Etna in June 2000 had accumulated in a reservoir 1.5 kilometers below the mountain's peak, chemical analyses suggest.
- Physics
A quantum fluid pipes up
After 40 years of trying, physicists have heard a quantum-mechanical whistle emanating from two reservoirs of oscillating liquid helium separated by a perforated membrane.
- Earth
Adding mussel to environmental assessments
Researchers have developed a new technique, using mussel shells, that could aid in autopsies of aquatic ecosystems that perished for unknown reasons.
- Health & Medicine
Ketone diet could help in Parkinson’s
A strict low-carb diet long used to treat some people with epilepsy has been tailored so that it might fight Parkinson's disease.
- Earth
PCBs damage fish immune systems
A common Arctic fish can suffer subtle immunological impairments from exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls at concentrations recorded in some remote polar waters.
- Anthropology
Human fossils are oldest yet
Homo sapiens fossils found along Ethiopia's Omo River in 1967 date to 195,000 years ago, making them the oldest-known remains of our species.
- Health & Medicine
Healing Gone Haywire: Wound-repair genes signal cancer spread
An experimental test predicts which breast tumors will spread rapidly without treatment and which are likely to be less aggressive by tracking the activity of genes normally involved in mending injured tissue.
- Animals
Hour of Babble: Young birds sing badly in the morning
Young zebra finches do badly at song practice for the first few hours after they wake up but then recover, and even improve, their musical skills.
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Math minus Grammar: Number skills survive language losses
Three men who suffered left brain damage that undermined their capacity to speak and understand language still possessed a firm grip of mathematics.
- Planetary Science
Spying Saturn’s Light Show: Anomalous aurora dazzles scientists
The dancing lights that paint Saturn's sky stands out from all other auroras observed in the solar system.
- Archaeology
In the Buff: Stone Age tools may have derived luster from diamond
Ancient Chinese people may have used diamonds to polish their stone axes to mirrorlike finishes.
- Earth
Sky High: Gamma-ray bursts are common in Earth’s upper atmosphere
Enigmatic bursts of high-energy gamma rays produced Earth's atmosphere are stronger and more frequent than previously thought.
