News
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Animals
Risk of egg diseases may rush incubation
Bird eggs can catch infections through their shells, and that risk may be an overlooked factor in the puzzlingly early start of incubation.
By Susan Milius -
Physics
Particle decays hint at new matter
A surprising disagreement between particle-physics theory and a Japan-based research team's measurement of decay rates of matter and antimatter hints that unknown, heavy subatomic particles may exist.
By Peter Weiss -
Widows show third-year rebound
Women whose husbands die largely overcome their grief-related problems, including depression and social isolation, by about 3 years after their loss, according to a national study.
By Bruce Bower -
Chemistry
Germ-killing plastic wrap
Scientists have developed biodegradable plastics that release natural germ-killing agents onto the foods wrapped inside.
By Janet Raloff -
Chemistry
Toxic runoff from plastic mulch
Pesticide runoff from tomato fields covered with sheets of plastic can kill fish, clams, and other aquatic life.
By Janet Raloff -
Chemistry
New solution for kitchen germs
Acidic electrolyzed water appears to kill foodborne germs more effectively than a bath of dilute bleach.
By Janet Raloff -
Brains generate a body of feeling
Happiness, sadness, and other basic emotions activate unique networks of brain areas that track the body's internal status.
By Bruce Bower -
Abused kids lose emotional bearings
Physical abuse and neglect appear to undermine preschoolers' emotional development in different ways.
By Bruce Bower -
Physics
Electron breakup? Physics shake-up
A controversial theoretical proposal that challenges more than a century of theory and experiments suggests that loose electrons in liquid helium may break into pieces, dubbed electrinos.
By Peter Weiss -
Computing
Virtual stampede sees faces in crowd
A new computer model based on particle interactions suggests ways to prevent a panicked crowd from stampeding.
By Laura Sivitz -
Physics
One-molecule chemistry gets big reaction
Carrying out a widely used chemical reaction on one molecule at a time, researchers demonstrate unprecedented control of molecular behavior and, possibly, the ability to make novel nanotechnology devices and compounds that can't be created with ordinary chemistry.
By Peter Weiss -
Plants
Glitch splits hermaphrodite flowers
In a newly proposed scenario, polyploidy may trigger perfectly good hermaphrodite plants to evolve gender forms.
By Susan Milius