News
-
Chemistry
Contacts could dispense drugs
Novel contact lens materials use nanoparticles to dispense drugs.
-
Chemistry
Matcha green tea packs the antioxidants
A green tea used in Japanese tea ceremonies contains much more of a beneficial antioxidant than ordinary green tea.
-
Chemistry
Nuclear-waste monitoring gets close to the source
A new prototype device may make monitoring of radioactive contamination cheaper and easier.
-
Chemistry
Catnip repels pest
Known to repel cockroaches and mosquitoes, catnip oil also works against termites.
-
Health & Medicine
Danes keeping drugs out of livestock
Reducing the amount of antibiotics given to livestock in Denmark has lowered the amount of drug-resistant Enterococcus faecium bacteria in the meat of these animals.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & Medicine
Indian encephalitis is traced to measles
An outbreak of fatal encephalitis in India appears to have been caused by a strange form of rashless measles in a majority of the sick children tested.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & Medicine
New Australian virus infects people
Australian scientists have identified a new virus, apparently spread by fruit bats, that causes birth defects in pigs and severe illness in some people exposed to infected pigs.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & Medicine
Venison can contain E. coli bacteria
Escherichia coli, which causes severe diarrhea in people, may be widespread in deer, a finding that raises concerns about preparation of wild-game meats.
By Nathan Seppa -
Earth
Death for the killer seaweed
Biologists have launched a campaign to eradicate the first infestation in open American waters of an invasive mutant algae.
By Janet Raloff -
Earth
Estrogen effects linger in male fish
Male fish can inappropriately make egg yolk protein, even when only intermittently exposed to water tainted with an estrogenic pollutant.
By Janet Raloff -
Yeast sex: Only for certain partners
Two studies independently confirm that Candida albicans, a strain of yeast long believed to be asexual, can sexually reproduce under certain conditions.
By Ruth Bennett -
Metal in diet harms Colorado birds
Cadmium, a metal naturally present in south-central Colorado, concentrates at deadly levels in willow plants, poisoning the ptarmigan that rely on the plant during winter months.
By Ruth Bennett