News
- Tech
Dream Machines from Beans: Legume proteins provide motion
Plant proteins swell and shrink in response to calcium, sparking new ideas for micromachines.
- Health & Medicine
Early Warning? Spinal fluid may signal Alzheimer’s presence
Spinal-fluid concentrations of two compounds already linked to the disease may reveal whether a person has Alzheimer's disease.
- Paleontology
Ratzilla: Extinct rodent was big, really big
Scientists who've analyzed the fossilized remains of an extinct South American rodent say that the creatures grew to weigh a whopping 700 kilograms.
- Tech
Channeling light in the deep sea
Light-conducting fibers that naturally sprout from certain deep-sea sponges may hold lessons for makers of optical fibers for telecommunications.
- Animals
Risk of egg diseases may rush incubation
Bird eggs can catch infections through their shells, and that risk may be an overlooked factor in the puzzlingly early start of incubation.
- Physics
Particle decays hint at new matter
A surprising disagreement between particle-physics theory and a Japan-based research team's measurement of decay rates of matter and antimatter hints that unknown, heavy subatomic particles may exist.
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Widows show third-year rebound
Women whose husbands die largely overcome their grief-related problems, including depression and social isolation, by about 3 years after their loss, according to a national study.
- Earth
River Stats Trickle In: Major floods may be waning in Europe
A new analysis of historical flood records from central Europe suggests that widespread inundations in the region have been on the wane for the past century or so.
- Health & Medicine
Paper Chased: Cancer-vaccine study is retracted
Researchers in Germany have retracted a paper that reported promising results for a vaccine that elicited immune responses against cancer cells.
- Health & Medicine
Sweet Relief: Comfort food calms, with weighty effect
Chronic stress might drive people to consume comfort foods that can soothe the brain.
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DNA Tie for Two Disorders: Genetic defects link psychiatric ailments
Alterations of genes that produce a protective, fatty coating for brain cells may influence the development of both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
- Health & Medicine
Damage Patrol: Enzyme may reveal cancer susceptibility
People with lung cancer show less DNA-repair activity by a certain enzyme than people without the disease do.
