News
- Paleontology
Alaska in the ice age: Was it bluegrass country?
At the height of the last ice age, northern portions of Alaska and the Yukon Territory were covered with an arid yet productive grassland that supported an abundance of large grazing mammals, fossils suggest.
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Attack of the cannibalistic bacteria
When nutrients are low, some members of a bacterial species will cannibalize other members.
- Earth
Spawning Trouble: Synthetic estrogen hampers trout fertility
Exposure to a synthetic estrogen called ethynylestradiol, which is commonly found in birth control pills and enters the waterways through sewage effluent, reduces male trout’s fertility by half.
- Health & Medicine
Double Duty: Diabetes drug protects reopened heart vessels
A drug normally prescribed to hold blood sugar in check provides an unexpected benefit to heart patients.
- Anthropology
New Guinea Went Bananas: Agriculture’s roots get a South Pacific twist
Inhabitants of New Guinea began to cultivate bananas in large quantities nearly 7,000 years ago, an agricultural practice that spread to Southeast Asia and throughout the Pacific region.
- Materials Science
Lithium Sees the Light: Images of tiny ion may help battery designers
An electron microscope has captured images of tiny lithium ions for the first time.
- Animals
Snake Pits: Viper heat sensors locate cool spots
Scientists who glued aluminum foil and plastic balls to live rattlesnakes say that snakes use their heat-sensing organs for more than hunting prey.
- Astronomy
Stellar Top: Astronomers find a squashed star
Astronomers have found a rapidly spinning, squashed star that is more than 1.5 times as wide as it is tall.
- Physics
Hot Mama: Has matter’s mother paid a call?
Physicists have found new signs that fiery particle collisions within a giant accelerator 2 years ago created a state of matter identical to what might have been the stuff of the newborn universe.
- Health & Medicine
MRI detects missed breast cancers
Magnetic resonance imaging detects breast cancer better than does mammography and might be preferable for certain women at high risk.
- Health & Medicine
Cancer vaccine gets first test in patients
The first clinical test of a cancer vaccine that targets a protein called carcinoembryonic antigen shows promise.
- Health & Medicine
Early cancer therapy and heart problems
Pediatric cancer treatment with chest radiation or anthracyclines can cause a heightened risk of heart disease at an earlier age than previously believed.
