News
- Chemistry
Molecular Midwives: Small helper compounds may have spawned early tools of life on Earth
Life on Earth may have sprung into being with the assistance of tiny molecules that are remarkably adept at stitching together DNA in the lab.
- Planetary Science
Martian Methane: Carbon compound hints at life
The presence of methane in the Martian atmosphere spotlights the possibility that there might be primitive life on the Red Planet.
- Archaeology
Cat’s Cradle? New find pushes back origin of tamed felines
Archaeological finds on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus indicate that people domesticated cats by about 9,500 years ago, long before cat taming achieved prominence in ancient Egypt.
- Physics
A New Form of Water: Melting ice turns oddly dense
The density of a recently made film of water far exceeds that of ordinary water, suggesting that the film may be the first isolated sample of a proposed form of water thought to contribute to ordinary water's odd properties.
- Health & Medicine
SARS vaccine tests well in mouse model
Scientists have developed a DNA vaccine that stops the SARS infection in mice.
- Earth
Inhaling your food—and its cooking fuel
Cooking emits easily inhaled pollutants that travel throughout a home and can linger for hours.
- Anthropology
Gene implicated in apes’ brain growth
A gene with poorly understood functions began to accumulate favorable mutations around 8 million years ago and probably contributed to brain expansion in ancient apes.
- Tech
Fluid lens flows into focus
By controlling a boundary between oil and water, researchers have created a liquid lens that can quickly alter its shape in response to electric signals.
- Health & Medicine
Papillomavirus infections spike in sunny months
Getting sun could increase vulnerability to a sexually transmitted virus that may lead to cervical cancer.
- Health & Medicine
Exercise after breast cancer extends life
After a woman survives an initial bout with breast cancer, being physically active improves her odds of beating the disease over the long term.
- Plants
A Frond Fared Well: Genes hint that ferns proliferated in shade of flowering plants
Analyses of genetic material from a multitude of fern species suggest that much of that plant group branched out millions of years after flowering plants first appeared, a notion that contradicts many scientists' views of plant evolution.
- Tech
Soaring at Hyperspeed: Long-sought technology finally propels a plane
For the first time, an airplane flew at hypersonic speed under power of a scramjet, an engine that operates at high velocities using oxygen from the atmosphere.
