News
- Earth
Big worries about little tubes
The size and chemical makeup of some nanotubes being developed for industrial operations resemble mineral fibers, including asbestos, that pose a serious cancer risk.
By Janet Raloff -
Meditation changes
People who meditate display particularly strong immune responses and brain activity that has been linked to emotional improvements, according to preliminary data.
By Bruce Bower - Paleontology
Oh, what a sticky web they wove
A look inside a piece of 130-million-year-old amber has revealed a thin filament of spider silk with sticky droplets that look just like those produced by modern spiders.
By Sid Perkins -
The Naked Truth? Lice hint at a recent origin of clothing
A study of genetic differences among human lice hints at the origin of clothing.
By John Travis - Earth
Clearing the Air: Ozone-killing bromine is on the decline
Chemical analyses of Earth's lower atmosphere show that the overall concentration of bromine, a component of some potent ozone-destroying chemicals, has dropped by 5 percent since peaking in 1998.
By Sid Perkins -
Uneasy Breathing: Lung ills linked to suicidal thoughts
Patients who suffer from asthma and other lung disorders report thoughts of suicide and self-harm far more often than do people treated for other physical illnesses.
By Bruce Bower - Animals
Musical Pairs: Egg-deploying bird species divide for a song
A new genetic analysis bolsters the idea that musical taste, rather than geography, split Africa's indigobirds into multiple species.
By Susan Milius - Tech
Bomb Sniffer: Cantilevers detect trace amounts of explosives
An ultra-sensitive chemical sensor uses microcantilevers to detect airborne plastic explosives within seconds.
- Astronomy
It’s Raining Stardust: Spacecraft measures record amount of stellar debris
Stardust is sneaking into our solar system at three times the rate that it had just 4 years ago, and the influx of dust could triple through 2010.
By Ron Cowen - Health & Medicine
Prenatal Cares: Popular painkillers linked to miscarriage
A new study finds that pregnant women taking nonprescription painkillers such as ibuprofen and aspirin have a higher risk of miscarriage.
-
Did cavefish trade eyes for good taste?
Certain blind cave-dwelling fish in Mexico may have developed more taste buds and bigger jaws as they lost their eyes.
By John Travis -
Livers: Better late than never
Drawing on an ancient Greek myth, researchers have given the name prometheus to a mutant strain of zebrafish that appear to have no liver early in their lives.
By John Travis