News
- Ecosystems
Worm Attacks: Invading earthworms threaten rare U.S. fern
An unusual study of the effects of invading earthworms on North American plants finds that the exotics might be on the way to killing off a rare fern.
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Lost That Smoking Feeling: Emotions sputter as cigarette motivator
The first detailed effort to monitor the reactions of cigarette smokers as they carry out their daily activities finds that they feel neither better nor worse than at times when they don't begin smoking.
- Earth
Outside-In: Clearing up how cloud droplets freeze
A fresh look at old experimental data suggests that water droplets in clouds freeze from the outside inward rather than from their core outward.
- Computing
Loony Tunes: Bugs blare in software set to music
A novel way of converting computer programs into familiar-sounding music helps programmers locate errors in their code.
- Astronomy
Cosmic Couple: One galaxy, two gravitational beasts
Astronomers welcomed the discovery of two black holes in one galaxy, which confirms some ideas about how galaxies and black holes merge and evolve.
- Chemistry
Clearing the air on dirty art
Air-pollution damage to artworks may accumulate more stealthily than conservationists thought, suggesting that art exhibitors need to step up protection against such damage.
- Chemistry
Protein’s structure lights the way
Forty years after the discovery of aequorin in a jellyfish, the structure of this calcium-tracking, glowing protein is resolved.
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Bacteria give carpet a nasty smell
A compound produced by bacteria may be responsible for the "cat urine" smell of some new carpeting.
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Pen-shaped device purifies water
A battery-powered instrument the size and shape of a pen can quickly disinfect contaminated drinking water.
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Molecule sparks origin-of-life debate
The first genetic material may have been a molecule called peptide nucleic acid, or PNA.
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RNA and DNA help cells switch class
Immune cells may tailor their genetic blueprint for antibodies through unusual RNA-DNA structures.
- Astronomy
More evidence of a flat universe
Another balloon-borne experiment recording relic radiation from the Big Bang has found evidence that the universe is flat.
