News
- 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.
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From Bone to Brain: Transplanted male bone marrow makes nerve cells in women and girls
Transplanted bone marrow can form new nerve cells in the brains of people.
- Chemistry
Unnatural Biochemistry: Bacteria make and use an alien amino acid
Researchers have constructed an organism that synthesizes and incorporates an extra amino acid into its proteins.
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Smells Like Emotion: Brain splits duties to sniff out feelings
A study suggests that a brain structure called the amygdala assesses the emotional intensity of both pleasant and unpleasant sensations, thus challenging prior evidence that it primarily coordinates fear responses.
- Animals
One-Two Poison: Scorpion starts with a cheap shot
A South African scorpion economizes as it stings, injecting a simple mix first, followed by a venom that's more complicated to produce.
- Health & Medicine
Too Much of a Good Thing: Excess vitamin A may hike bone-fracture rate
Dietary studies suggest that people who consume large amounts of vitamin A in foods or multivitamins are more likely to suffer hip fractures than are people who ingest modest amounts.
- Tech
Fiber Helper: Minuscule controllers may open data floodgates
A device that fits on the end of optical fibers may make possible the next big boost in Internet speed without new underground cables.
- Astronomy
In the Beginning: Dark matter builds galaxies, feeds quasars
Cosmologists say they have found compelling evidence that massive galaxies were already in place when the universe was less than a billion years old.
- Paleontology
Wings Aplenty: Dinosaur species had feathered hind limbs
A team of Chinese paleontologists has discovered fossils of a small, feathered dinosaur that they say had four wings.
- Earth
Estrogens classified as carcinogens
The sex hormones known as steroidal estrogens, which are used in hormone-replacement therapies and birth control pills, have joined a government list of known human carcinogens.
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Goodnight moon, hello Mom
A national study finds that about 13 percent of U.S. infants now routinely sleep in a bed with their mothers or other adults, intensifying interest in alleged health benefits and risks of bed sharing for babies.
- Astronomy
Sundancing
Astronomers have solved the mystery of why supergranules—enormous cells of turbulent, charged gas on the sun's surface—appear to move across the sun faster than the sun rotates.
