News
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When Protein Breakdown Breaks Down: Bacterial toxin yields signs of Parkinson’s
Certain compounds that hinder cells from destroying waste proteins can produce symptoms of Parkinson's disease in rats.
- Materials Science
Cool Magnet: A little bit of iron gives magnetic refrigeration a boost
An improved material moves magnetic refrigeration one step closer to commercial reality.
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Mr. Universe Jr.: Child’s gene mutation confirms protein’s role in human-muscle growth
A boy born with extra-large muscles has mutations in a gene regulating muscle growth.
- Health & Medicine
Cancer with a Twist: Protein instrumental in breast-cancer metastasis
A protein called Twist, which orchestrates gene activity in cells, facilitates the spread of some breast cancers.
- Anthropology
Stone Age Ear for Speech: Ancient finds sound off on roots of language
Ancestors of Neandertals that lived at least 350,000 years ago heard the same range of sounds that people today do, suggesting that the ability to speak arose early in the Stone Age.
- Physics
Misbehavin’ Meson: Perplexing particle flouts the rules
The discovery of what appears to be a new subatomic particle with bizarre properties is challenging theorists' understanding of how matter behaves.
- Animals
Hot Bother: Ground squirrels taunt in infrared
California ground squirrels broadcast an infrared signal when confronting a rattlesnake.
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Sleepy brains take learning seriously
After people practice a hand-eye coordination task, electrical activity in specific areas of the brain during sleep reflects neural processes involved in learning to perform that task better.
- Physics
New pass at neutrino mass
The first experiment to create neutrinos in an accelerator and then beam them a long distance has found a long-awaited, new form of evidence that those fundamental particles weigh something.
- Earth
Cost of protecting the oceans
Operating an extensive global network of marine parks in which fishing and habitat-stressing activities are restricted would probably be more affordable for governments than continuing to subsidize struggling fisheries at current levels.
- Physics
Why the thinnest sticky hairs rule
The foot hairs of geckos and other creatures that can walk on ceilings may be microscopic because only such slender hairs offer optimal adhesion, regardless of shape.
- Chemistry
Connection blocker may stop viruses
Using compounds that disrupt the interface of two viral proteins might present a novel strategy for combating viruses, a study of herpes suggests.
