News
- Paleontology
Tracks suggest chase, capture, and after-meal respite
A 1.3-meter-long, S-shaped trail of fossil footprints discovered in southwestern Indiana includes one set of disappearing tracks—suggesting an ancient chase—and an impression where the predator rested after its meal.
By Sid Perkins -
- Physics
Super Spinner: Seven-atom speck acts like superfluid
Scientists have for the first time directly observed the onset in liquid helium of superfluidity—a quantum-mechanical state in which liquids flow without friction—as helium atoms accumulated one by one to form a droplet of liquid around a gas molecule.
By Peter Weiss - Paleontology
Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along: Dinosaur buoyancy may explain odd tracks
New lab experiments and computer analyses may explain how some of the heftiest four-legged dinosaurs ever to walk on Earth could have left trackways that include the imprints of only their front feet.
By Sid Perkins - Astronomy
When really big winds collide
A newly released image shows dramatic details of the Crescent nebula, a giant gaseous shell created by outbursts of a massive star about to explode as a supernova.
By Ron Cowen -
Bad for the Bones: Thwarted hormone leads to skeletal decay
Thyroid-stimulating hormone plays an unexpected role in bone remodeling.
- Health & Medicine
First Viruses, Now Tumors: AIDS drug shows promise against brain cancers
A potential AIDS drug may also slow the growth of deadly brain tumors.
By John Travis - Tech
Timing Is Everything: Implantable polymer chip delivers meds on schedule
A polymer microchip implanted under the skin could deliver multiple doses of medications at programmed intervals, eliminating the need for pills and injections.
- Earth
Chicken Little? Study cites arsenic in poultry
Most chicken eaten in the United States contains 3 to 4 times as much arsenic as is present in other kinds of meat and poultry.
By Ben Harder -
IQ Yo-Yo: Test changes alter retardation diagnoses
Mental retardation placements in U.S. schools rose dramatically in the first five years after a commonly used IQ test was revised, raising concerns about how IQ scores are used to diagnose mental retardation.
By Bruce Bower - Astronomy
Vanishing planet
An object orbiting a distant star is too heavy to be a planet, researchers have concluded.
By Ron Cowen - Astronomy
Extrasolar planet gets heavier
An extrasolar planet that tightly orbits its parent star is heavier than astronomers had thought.
By Ron Cowen