News
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IQ Yo-Yo: Test changes alter retardation diagnoses
Mental retardation placements in U.S. schools rose dramatically in the first five years after a commonly used IQ test was revised, raising concerns about how IQ scores are used to diagnose mental retardation.
- Astronomy
Vanishing planet
An object orbiting a distant star is too heavy to be a planet, researchers have concluded.
- Astronomy
Extrasolar planet gets heavier
An extrasolar planet that tightly orbits its parent star is heavier than astronomers had thought.
- Health & Medicine
Treatment helps newborns avoid HIV
Giving healthy newborns whose mothers are infected with HIV a combination of anti-HIV drugs shortly after birth makes the infants less likely to contract the virus through breastfeeding.
- Tech
Sweet-toothed microbe tapped for power
Using a newly discovered bacterium that both frees electrons from sugars and injects those charges straight into electric circuits, scientists have created a fuel cell that converts carbohydrates to electricity with extraordinary efficiency.
- Earth
Gulf War vets face elevated ALS risk
Two studies suggest that veterans of the 1991 Gulf War are at elevated risk of developing the fatal neurodegenerative condition amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) compared with other military personnel and with the general population.
- Health & Medicine
Balance benefits from noisy insoles
Sending subliminal vibrations to nerves on the bottoms of feet helps people, especially the elderly, keep their balance.
- Earth
Flame retardants take a vacation
The lifetime in blood of flame- retarding diphenyl ethers, now-ubiquitous pollutants, ranges from 2 weeks to 2 years, Swedish researchers find.
- Health & Medicine
Cocoa puffs up insulin in blood
Eating foods flavored with cocoa powder as opposed to other flavorings stimulates surplus production of the sugar-processing hormone insulin, but the metabolic implications of the finding aren’t yet known.
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- Chemistry
Nobel Prize in Chemistry Opens Channels: Research reveals vital function of tiny pores in cell membranes
The 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry honors two researchers for their pioneering work on the structure and mechanisms of cell membrane channels, tiny pores that regulate the flow of ions and water molecules across cells.
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A Shot at Pain Prevention: Nerve-healing protein relieves rats’ misery
A chemical that spurs growth of nerve cells during fetal development may provide a new way to treat severe chronic pain that results from nerve damage.
