News
- Animals
When bluebirds fight, bet on the bluest
The male bluebirds with the bluest (and most ultraviolet) plumage turned out to be the toughest competitors in a study of who won the rights to prime nest boxes.
- Health & Medicine
COX-2 inhibitor pulled off market
Merck's recall of rofecoxib, a COX-2 inhibitor drug for arthritis, raises the question of whether similar drugs might also increase the risk of heart attack.
- Tech
Tracing the origin of Genesis’ crash
The upside-down installation of four switches intended to signal the Genesis spacecraft to open its parachutes is the likely cause of the craft's crash in the Utah desert on Sept. 8.
- Earth
Dioxin-type carcinogens pose additive risks
Pollutants known as dioxins, furans, and certain chemically related polychlorinated biphenyls have additive cancer-causing effects when mixed together, as has been assumed in calculating the chemicals' health risks.
- Astronomy
Renegade stars in sun’s neighborhood
Some stars in the neighborhood of the sun may be renegades from the center of our galaxy.
- Health & Medicine
Childhood trauma raises risk of heart disease
A childhood filled with psychological or physical tribulations contributes to one's risk of developing heart disease as an adult.
- Astronomy
Messy Findings: Planets encounter a violent world
Some young planets continue to take a beating hundreds of millions of years after they've formed.
- Health & Medicine
A Problem of Adhesion: More evidence of sickle-cell stickiness
Interrupted blood flow in people with sickle-cell disease might arise from stickiness inherent in the unusual red blood cells these individuals have.
- Paleontology
Early Bird: Fossil features hint at go-get-’em hatchlings
A well-preserved, 121-million-year-old fossilized bird embryo has several features that suggest that the species' young could move about and feed themselves very soon after they hatched.
- Chemistry
Microbes Make the Switch: Tailored bacteria need caffeine product to survive
Bacteria that rely on a chemical derived from the breakdown of caffeine for their survival could help lead to the development of decaffeinated coffee plants.
- Plants
Green Red-Alert: Plant fights invaders with animal-like trick
Mustard plants' immune systems can react to traces of bacteria with a burst of nitric oxide, much as an animal's immune system does.
- Physics
Graphite in Flatland: Carbon sheets may rival nanotubes
Researchers have created freestanding carbon films as thin as one atom.
