News
- Paleontology
Dear Mummy: Rare fossil reveals common dinosaur’s soft tissue
A mummified dinosaur unearthed in Montana a year ago is giving scientists a rare peek at what the creature's muscles and other soft tissues may have looked like.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
Final Word? Breast surgeries yield same survival rate
Women with breast cancer who undergo partial-breast removal are just as likely to survive for at least 20 years as are women who have their entire breast removed.
By Nathan Seppa -
Long live the Y?
Researchers have identified a means by which the Y chromosome may forestall, or at least delay, the gradual degradation that some biologists argue will ultimately delete it from the human genome.
By John Travis -
Bacterial diet quiets worm genes
Genetically engineered bacteria help biologists turn off worm genes.
By John Travis -
Sea squirt’s DNA makes a splash
The DNA sequence of a sea squirt may reveal the origins of vertebrates.
By John Travis - Plants
Drought-tolerant plant mined for survival genes
A drought-resistant South African plant is revealing its genetic secrets.
By John Travis -
Tests revise image of kangaroo rats
An ecological study of kangaroo rats has revised thinking about how these desert dwellers cope with their stressful home.
By Susan Milius - Anthropology
Fossil skull spurs identity dispute
A dispute has broken out over whether a recently discovered, 7-million-year-old fossil skull represents the earliest known member of the human evolutionary family or an ancient ape.
By Bruce Bower - Earth
Haze clears on sooty climate conditions
The results of a new study suggest that soot plays a bigger role in regional climate changes than scientists had previously realized.
- Physics
Ring around the proton
An orbiting electron accelerated to relativistic velocities by a laser in a strong magnetic field can behave like a ring-shaped electron cloud spinning around the nucleus.
- Physics
Writing with warm atoms
Researchers demonstrated that they can use a scanning tunneling microscope to position atoms in microscopic patterns at room temperature.
- Archaeology
Ancient origins of fire use
Human ancestors may have learned to control fire 1.7 million years ago in eastern Africa.
By Bruce Bower