News
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Earth
Kilauea: 20 years on, it’s still erupting
As of Jan. 3, Kilauea—Hawaii’s Energizer Bunny of volcanic activity—has been erupting continuously for two decades.
By Sid Perkins -
Chemistry
Sea bacteria may be new anticancer resource
Researchers examining deep-sea sediments have uncovered a large source of previously unknown bacteria that appear to produce disease-fighting chemicals.
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Health & Medicine
As population ages, flu takes deadly turn
The annual U.S. toll of influenza has risen dramatically since the late 1970s, in part because of the advancing age of the population.
By Ben Harder -
Planetary Science
New moons for Neptune?
Astronomers say they have discovered three additional moons circling Neptune.
By Ron Cowen -
Astronomy
Gamma-ray burst leaves ephemeral afterglow
A ground-based telescope on automatic pilot has taken one of the earliest images ever recorded of the visible-light afterglow of a gamma-ray burst, one of the most energetic flashes of radiation in the universe.
By Ron Cowen -
Health & Medicine
Clot promoter cuts surgical bleeding
A clot-promoting protein known as recombinant activated factor VII might offer a new way to staunch demand for blood transfusions.
By Ben Harder -
Psychiatric drugs surge among kids
The proportion of children and teenagers in the United States taking drugs prescribed for psychiatric disorders more than doubled from 1987 to 1996.
By Bruce Bower -
Health & Medicine
Lifestyle can prevent diabetes…maybe
Losing weight and exercising more can help ward off diabetes—but other research suggests that it's hard to get people to make such lifestyle changes.
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Health & Medicine
Singing the blues
After finding that people with diabetes are slightly more likely to have had an episode of depression in the past 11 years than similar people who have not developed diabetes, some researchers have made the controversial suggestion that depression may cause diabetes.
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Health & Medicine
Darn that diet, anyway
Seemingly healthful foods—such as broiled chicken and baked fish—can contain high concentrations of compounds that may damage the cardiovascular system, and eating these foods can raise the concentration of these so-called advanced glycation end products in a person's blood.
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Health & Medicine
The medicine isn’t going down
Only about a third of people diagnosed with type II diabetes are taking their medications often enough to keep their blood sugar concentrations under tight control.
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Agriculture
Carnivorous fish nibble at farming gain
Fish farming may ease pressure on wild stocks overall, but for certain species, farms mean a net loss of fish.
By Susan Milius