News

  1. 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.

    By
  2. 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.

    By
  3. Gutless Wonder: New symbiosis lets worm feed on whale bones

    A newly discovered genus of marine worm can take nourishment from sunken whale skeletons, thanks to a previously unknown form of symbiosis.

    By
  4. Ecosystems

    Fish Stew: Species interplay makes fisheries management tricky in the long run

    Annual fluctuations in certain fish populations can be best understood and controlled by accounting for ecological factors, such as predation by other fish, in addition to fisheries harvests.

    By
  5. Health & Medicine

    Prion Proof? Evidence grows for mad cow protein

    Misfolded proteins known as prions can cause disease when injected into the brains of genetically engineered mice.

    By
  6. Humans

    EPA to fine DuPont over ingredient in Teflon

    The Environmental Protection Agency says it may levy a fine surpassing $300 million against DuPont for concealing evidence that it was contaminating the environment with perfluorooctanoic acid.

    By
  7. Brain development disturbed in autism

    A brain-imaging study suggests that autism is characterized by disturbances in the development of the amygdala and the hippocampus, two inner-brain structures.

    By
  8. Paleontology

    Early life forms had a modular structure

    Fossils recently discovered in northeastern Newfoundland reveal that some of Earth's earliest large organisms had modular body plans whose main architectural element was a branching, frondlike structure.

    By
  9. Health & Medicine

    Dentists: Eschew chewing aspirin

    Chewing aspirin or just letting the tablets dissolve in the mouth can seriously damage teeth.

    By
  10. Earth

    PCBs can taint building caulk

    Long-banned, toxic polychlorinated biphenyls in some building caulk applied in the 1960s and 1970s may still pose an exposure risk.

    By
  11. Health & Medicine

    Birthing age and ovarian cancer risk

    Giving birth confers on women some protection against ovarian cancer, and the later in life the last pregnancy happens, the better the protection.

    By
  12. Anthropology

    Chimps mature with human ancestor

    The Stone Age human ancestor Homo erectus grew at about the same pace as wild chimpanzees today do.

    By