News
- Tech
Laser beam powers flying machine
Caught in a laser's glare on its maiden launch, a lightweight drone with a solar panel demonstrated that continuous flight powered by ground-based lasers is possible.
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Chronicling a war of beetle vs. leaf
A meshing of family trees provides a rare example of an arms race between toxic Bursera plants and the beetles that manage to eat them anyway.
- Anthropology
Europe’s Iceman was a valley guy
The 5,200-year-old Iceman, whose mummified body was found 12 years ago in the Alps between Italy and Austria, spent his life in the valleys just south of where his body was found, according to chemical analyses of his remains.
- Earth
Bioengineered crops have mixed eco effects
An unusually large test of the ecological impact of genetically modified crops finds mixed results, depending on the crop.
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- Earth
Chemical Reaction: Two flame retardants to phase out in 2004
The sole U.S. manufacturer of two widely used brominated fire retardants pledged to phase out its production of both products by the end of next year.
- Animals
Not-So-Great Hunter: Said the spider to the fly—Eek! I’m outta here
The poisonous brown recluse spider may turn out not to be a fearsome hunter so much as a scavenger.
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Calcium Makes Germs Cluster: Ion dilution leads cholera bacteria to disperse
A protein on the surface of cholera-causing bacteria enables the pathogens to clump together in seawater and to scatter when they enter fresh water, perhaps facilitating seasonal outbreaks of cholera in coastal areas.
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Forgetting to Remember: Emotion robs memory while reviving it
A common biological mechanism may boost memory for emotional events and block recall for what happened just before those events occurred, at least over the short run.
- Earth
Frosty Florida: Spread of agriculture may promote freezes
Planting crops in south Florida may have increased the risk of the freezes farmers hoped to avoid.
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Getting Back to Normal: Protein enables the liver to regenerate quickly
A protein called stem cell factor enables the liver to regenerate and may even protect people from acute liver failure.
