News
- Health & Medicine
Flawed Therapy: Hormone replacement takes more hits
Elderly women taking estrogen and progestin are more likely to develop dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, and stroke than are women not taking the hormones.
By Nathan Seppa - Astronomy
Red Team, Blue Team: Galaxy survey shows that color matters
Using the largest survey of galaxies ever compiled, astronomers have found that the cosmos divides sharply along color lines.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
New view of Earth
On May 8, 2003, scientists pointed a camera on board the Mars Global Surveyor probe back at Earth and captured the first image from another planet that shows our world as more than a point of light.
By Sid Perkins -
Memorable Shot: Smallpox vaccine has lasting effect
People vaccinated against smallpox decades ago may retain significant immunity to the virus that causes the disease.
By John Travis - Agriculture
Mad Cow Future: Tests explore next generation of defenses
As Canadian health officials investigate mad cow disease within the country's borders, researchers are already working on the next generation of defenses.
By Susan Milius - Chemistry
Multiple Motions: Applied electrons make molecules vibrate and move
A new technique enables scientists to choreograph individual molecules to vibrate, break bonds, and move on a surface in specified ways.
- Earth
Count Down: Chemicals linked to inferior sperm
New data suggest that typical exposures to chemicals called phthalates are associated with reduced fertility in men, but the specific phthalates they finger aren't those that researchers most expected to cause problems.
By Ben Harder - Humans
Test Flight: Young scientists earn—and spread—their wings
A century after two brothers from Ohio launched the first powered aircraft, more than 1,200 students from 31 countries descended on Cleveland to participate in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
By Ben Harder - Chemistry
Detecting Lead: Sensor changes color for toxic metal
A new sensor using gold nanoparticles and tailor-made DNA strands offers simple and reliable detection of lead in paint.
- Planetary Science
Springtime on Neptune: Images hint at seasonal changes on distant planet
Belying its location in the deep freeze of the outer solar system, Neptune may undergo a change of seasons.
By Ron Cowen -
Scripted Brains: Learning to read evokes hemispheric trade-off
From childhood through adolesence, the process of learning to read involves an amplification of specific types of left-brain activity and a dampening of right-brain responses, a new brain-imaging study finds.
By Bruce Bower -
Bad Dancers: Childhood chills give bees six left feet
Honeybees kept just a bit cool when young grow up looking normal but dancing badly, which impedes their ability to communicate with other bees.
By Susan Milius