News
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Health & MedicineCurbing Allergy to Insect Venom: Therapy stops reactions to stings years later
Some children don't outgrow an allergy to insect stings, but immunizations against such allergies can protect them into adulthood.
By Nathan Seppa -
AstronomyOne of Hubble’s Tools Fails: Observatory loses a sharp ultraviolet eye
With the failure last week of an instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have lost their only sharp ultraviolet eye on the universe.
By Ron Cowen -
EarthProtecting Baby: Calcium in pregnancy reduces lead exposure
By taking calcium supplements during pregnancy, a mother can significantly reduce the lead exposure of her fetus.
By Carrie Lock -
Glowing Trio under the Sea: Nitrogen fixer joins algae inside coral
A coral that fluoresces orange appears to be the first ever found to contain a symbiotic microbe that converts nitrogen into a biologically useful form.
By Susan Milius -
PaleontologyGrowth Spurt: Teenage tyrannosaurs packed on the pounds
Detailed analyses of tyrannosaur fossils suggest that the creatures experienced an extended growth spurt during adolescence.
By Sid Perkins -
Health & MedicineOld-fashioned circumcision can spread herpes
Boys whose ritual circumcisions involve an ancient, and now rare, practice may acquire herpes during the operation.
By Ben Harder -
Health & MedicineSevere sweating treated with Botox
A new treatment has been approved for excessive sweating, or hyperhidrosis, which is surprisingly common.
By Ben Harder -
Mechanism suggested for Guam illness
A research team has invoked protein chemistry to propose a solution to a long-standing neuroscience mystery in Guam.
By Susan Milius -
Planetary ScienceThe sound of rings
When Cassini reached Saturn on June 30, it twice dashed through a gap in the planet's rings, and onboard science instruments recorded a flurry of ring dust harmlessly striking the spacecraft.
By Ron Cowen -
Health & MedicineHIV drugs may stop cervical disease
A drug combination given to people with HIV, the AIDS virus, helps knock out precancerous cervical lesions in some women.
By Nathan Seppa -
Planetary ScienceMeteorites quickly reach Earth
Fragments from collisions between large bodies in the asteroid belt can reach Earth in as little as 100,000 years.
By Sid Perkins -
Worm to elephant: New genome targets
The National Human Genome Research Institute has released a list of 18 wildly different creatures as targets for genome sequencing.
By Susan Milius