News
- Health & Medicine
Schizophrenia spurs imaging network
Thanks to a federal grant, a team of researchers will establish a national database of brain images that will allow for expanded investigations of the neural basis of schizophrenia.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
First Line of Defense: Hints of primitive antibodies
After looking in primitive marine invertebrates that are considered to be close relatives to vertebrates, immunologists find families of genes that might provide clues as to how early immune systems evolved.
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Eye-Grabbing Insights: Visual structure grips infants’ attention
Babies take their first major strides with their eyes, not their legs, as they rapidly distinguish among playpens, pacifiers, and a plethora of other objects.
By Bruce Bower - Animals
Lizard’s Choice: Mating test pits physique versus domain
When she decides to move in, is it him or is it his real estate?
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Coconspirator? Genital herpes linked to cervical cancer
Having a genital herpes infection doubles the risk of cervical cancer among women who have human papillomavirus.
By Nathan Seppa - Astronomy
Neutron Star Stuff: Just neutrons, no quarks
A new study suggests that although neutron stars may be weird, they’re not strange.
By Ron Cowen - Tech
Nanotech Switch: Strategy controls minuscule motor
Researchers have modified a rotating protein fragment so that it starts and stops spinning with the addition and removal of zinc.
- Earth
Wildfire Below: Smoldering peat disgorges huge volumes of carbon
Set alight by wildfires, thick beds of decaying tropical plant matter can pump massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, rivaling those produced globally each year from the combustion of fossil fuels.
By Ben Harder - Physics
Laser links segue to chemical bonds
Light can knit matter together until other bonds take over, providing a potentially useful approach to building nanometer-scale structures and materials.
By Peter Weiss - Physics
Electron cycling in quantum confines
A lone electron zips around in the tightest circle allowed by quantum mechanics in an extraordinarily small, frigid cyclotron, potentially allowing scientists to nail down some fundamental constants of physics more precisely than ever before.
By Peter Weiss - Health & Medicine
Nervous tics in the heart
The irregular heartbeats sometimes triggered after a heart attack may be caused by abnormal nerve growth in heart tissue damaged by the attack.
- Health & Medicine
Waiting to exhale
A breath test that measures the activity of an enzyme involved in breaking down drugs in a person's body may help doctors minimize side effects from potent drugs such as docetaxel.