News

  1. Earth

    Farmed salmon bring PCBs to the table

    High concentrations of chlorinated organic contaminants in farm-raised Atlantic salmon may warrant limiting consumption of the otherwise-healthful fish to no more than once per month.

    By Ben Harder
  2. Earth

    Air held oxygen early on

    Chemical analyses of South African sediments suggest that oxygen was present in small quantities about 2.32 billion years ago, which is at least 100 million years earlier than previously thought.

    By Sid Perkins
  3. Earth

    Scooting on a Wet Bottom: Some undersea landslides ride a nearly frictionless slick of water

    New computer simulations suggest that hydroplaning may be responsible for the unexpectedly large distances traversed by some undersea avalanches.

    By Sid Perkins
  4. Health & Medicine

    Conduit to the Brain: Particles enter the nervous system via the nose

    Tiny airborne particles can apparently infiltrate the brain by shimmying up the nerve that governs smell.

    By Ben Harder

  5. Sleeper Effects: Slumber may fortify memory, stir insight

    In two separate studies, researchers found that a specific sleep stage may amplify recent memories and that sleep can inspire problem-solving insights.

    By Bruce Bower

  6. Pushing Cancer over the Edge: Compounds trigger tumor-cell suicide

    Compounds that free cancer cells to commit suicide slow tumor growth.

    By John Travis
  7. Plants

    Dawn of the Y: Papaya—Glimpse of early sex chromosome

    Genetic mappers say that the papaya plant has a rudimentary Y chromosome, the youngest one in evolutionary terms yet found, offering a glimpse of the evolution of sex chromosomes.

    By Susan Milius
  8. Planetary Science

    Spirit Gets Its Wheels Dirty: Mars rover begins scientific work

    Spirit, the rover that landed on Mars on Jan. 3, last week began studying the rocks and soil at its landing site.

    By Ron Cowen
  9. Health & Medicine

    Cluster Buster: Might a simple sugar derail Huntington’s?

    A study in mice with a disease resembling Huntington's shows that a simple sugar impedes the protein aggregation that kills brain cells.

    By Nathan Seppa
  10. Health & Medicine

    Viruses depend on shocking proteins

    To replicate within a cell, a bird virus must force the cell to make certain proteins.

    By John Travis
  11. Health & Medicine

    Drugs slow aging in worms

    Drugs that defuse so-called free radicals lengthen a worm's life span by more than 50 percent.

    By John Travis

  12. Whatever that is, it’s scary

    Tammar wallabies that have lived away from mammalian predators for more than 9,000 years still seem to recognize the appearance of danger.

    By Susan Milius