News
- Health & Medicine
Humidity may affect LASIK surgery
High humidity can boost the chances of needing follow-up surgery after LASIK surgery for nearsightedness.
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Brain roots of music depreciation
The brains of tone-deaf people may be unable to detect subtle shifts in pitch, which keeps them from learning the basic structure of musical passages.
- Earth
Tracks of dust devils spotted from space
Scientists scanning satellite images of the southern Sahara have detected trails left on the landscape by the whirlwinds commonly known as dust devils.
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Chronic vibrations constrict vessels
Chronic vibrations of the hands can distort and twist some arterial cells to the breaking point, animal research indicates.
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Uganda shows strong gains in war on AIDS
Uganda has shown remarkable progress against HIV, the AIDS virus.
- Physics
Fundamental constant didn’t vary after all
In disagreement with prior findings, an analysis of new quasar observations indicates that alpha, the universal constant that defines the strength of the electromagnetic force, has not varied since the early days of the cosmos.
- Physics
The Electron’s Other Charge: Workhorse of electricity shows its weak side
Although electrons are nonnuclear particles, they exert a feeble nuclear force on each other when they snuggle up close, a new experiment shows.
- Earth
It’s a Gas: Trees emit unknown volatile substances
The chemical reactions taking place just above a northern Michigan forest hint that trees there and elsewhere may be emitting highly reactive gaseous substances that scientists haven't yet identified or directly detected.
- Humans
Mouse Mourned: Yoda dies at age 4
An age-defying laboratory mouse known as Yoda died peacefully in his cage in Ann Arbor, Mich., on April 22, at the age of 4 years and 12 days.
- Health & Medicine
Unsettling Association: Dental X rays linked to low-birth-weight babies
Getting dental X rays while pregnant might increase a woman's risk of giving birth to a low-birth-weight baby.
- Earth
Harm from Plastic Additive Challenged: Early exposure shows no ill effects
Presumed exposure shortly after birth to a chemical ingredient in plastics shows no evidence of disrupting development in people, according to a small study of teens who, as newborns, received intensive medical care involving plastic hospital equipment.
- Archaeology
Stone Age Combustion: Fire use proposed at ancient Israeli site
A Stone Age site in Israel contains the oldest evidence of controlled fire use in Asia or Europe, from around 750,000 years ago, a research team reports.
