News
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It’s a tough job, but native bees can do it
An organic watermelon field in California near remnants of wild land still had enough bees of North American species to pollinate a commercial crop, but habitat-poor farms didn't.
By Susan Milius - Planetary Science
Mars reveals more frozen water
Planetary scientists have discovered ice near the edge of Mars' south polar cap.
By Ron Cowen - Archaeology
Old legend dies hard
People who first entered King Tutankhamen's tomb did not suffer from a legendary curse but instead lived long lives.
- Health & Medicine
Silencing a gene slows breast-tumor fighter
The protein encoded by the HOXA5 gene plays a key role in fighting breast cancer, helping to switch on cancer-suppressing genes.
By Nathan Seppa -
Hands, not eyes, hold clue to illusion
Psychologists disprove a leading hypothesis for the size-weight illusion—an error that arises when people try to estimate the weights of two bodies of different sizes but the same mass.
By Ruth Bennett - Earth
Candid cameras catch rare Asian cats
Remote cameras have confirmed that despite 30 years of armed conflict, jungle cats and many other large mammals continue to thrive in Cambodia.
By Janet Raloff -
Brain wiring depends on multifaceted gene
A single gene may produce 38,000 unique proteins that guide the growth of the developing brain.
By John Travis - Astronomy
Sugarcoated news arrives from space
Scientists spotted a simple sugar in interstellar space for the first time.
- Paleontology
Overlooked fossil spread first feathers
A new look at a fossil that had been lying in a drawer in Moscow for nearly 30 years has uncovered the oldest known feathered animal.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Moms’ POPs, Sons’ Problems: Testicular cancer tied to a fetus’ pollutant contact
Women who've had substantial exposure to certain environmental pollutants are more likely than other women to bear sons who develop testicular cancers.
By Ben Harder - Chemistry
Jet Streams: Droplet behavior captured by high-speed camera
A series of images has captured charged droplets spouting microscopic jets of fluid, a phenomenon that was proposed by Lord Rayleigh in 1882.
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Losing Rhythm: Gene mutation causes heart problems
Chinese researchers have for the first time identified a genetic defect that causes atrial fibrillation, a disorder in which the heart's upper chambers beat irregularly and too rapidly.
By John Travis