News
- Materials Science
Sea urchin shell lights the way for optical material
Using the porous skeleton of a sea urchin as a template, materials scientists have fabricated a photonic crystal.
- Agriculture
Bees increase coffee profits
Scientists studying a Costa Rican coffee farm have estimated the monetary value of conserving nearby wooded habitat for the bees that pollinate coffee plants.
By Ben Harder - Astronomy
3-D solar eruptions
Solar physicists have developed a technique to obtain the three-dimensional structure of coronal mass ejections by using two-dimensional images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.
By Ron Cowen - Materials Science
Savvy Sieve: Carbon nanotubes filter petroleum, polluted water
A filter made out of carbon nanotubes has potential for such applications as processing crude oil and decontaminating drinking water.
- Health & Medicine
Joint Effort: Bacteria in yogurt combat arthritis in rats
Yogurt containing certain types of live bacteria may help prevent or treat arthritis.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Curbing Allergy to Insect Venom: Therapy stops reactions to stings years later
Some children don't outgrow an allergy to insect stings, but immunizations against such allergies can protect them into adulthood.
By Nathan Seppa - Astronomy
One of Hubble’s Tools Fails: Observatory loses a sharp ultraviolet eye
With the failure last week of an instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have lost their only sharp ultraviolet eye on the universe.
By Ron Cowen - Earth
Protecting Baby: Calcium in pregnancy reduces lead exposure
By taking calcium supplements during pregnancy, a mother can significantly reduce the lead exposure of her fetus.
By Carrie Lock -
Glowing Trio under the Sea: Nitrogen fixer joins algae inside coral
A coral that fluoresces orange appears to be the first ever found to contain a symbiotic microbe that converts nitrogen into a biologically useful form.
By Susan Milius - Paleontology
Growth Spurt: Teenage tyrannosaurs packed on the pounds
Detailed analyses of tyrannosaur fossils suggest that the creatures experienced an extended growth spurt during adolescence.
By Sid Perkins - Plants
Lowering lilies on the tree of life
Water lilies may belong on the lowest branch of the family tree of flowering plants, along with a shrub called Amborella.
By Susan Milius - Earth
Infectious stowaways
A new study finds that ballast water can move huge quantities of cholera germs and other microbes between ports around the globe.
By Janet Raloff