News
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Astronomy
Hole in the Middle: Are midsize black holes the missing link?
Two teams of astronomers reported that they had confirmed the existence of a new class of black hole.
By Ron Cowen -
Earth
Cancer Causer? Researchers zero in on leukemia risks
Researchers add to mounting evidence that household pesticide exposure may be a significant risk factor for childhood leukemia.
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Paleontology
Veggie Bites: Fossil suggests carnivorous dinosaurs begat vegetarian kin
Chinese rocks have yielded fossil remains of a creature that had rodentlike incisors and a hefty overbite, providing the first distinct dental evidence for plant-eating habits among theropod dinosaurs.
By Sid Perkins -
Anthropology
Court releases ancient skeleton
A judge's decision gives scientists the right to study the 9,000-year-old skeleton dubbed Kennewick Man rather than turn the remains over to a coalition of Native American tribes for reburial.
By Bruce Bower -
Astronomy
Reflecting on the Kuiper belt
A new study suggests that at least some members of the Kuiper belt, the reservoir of comets and other frozen objects that lie beyond the orbit of Neptune, reflect more sunlight and are considerably smaller than previously calculated.
By Ron Cowen -
Health & Medicine
Herbal cancer remedy is chock full of drugs
An herbal remedy that had been popular among prostate cancer patients was tainted with three synthetic drugs.
By Nathan Seppa -
Earth
Leaden impacts of gum disease, smoking
Subtle bone loss associated with advanced gum disease can be linked to elevated lead concentrations in the blood.
By Janet Raloff -
Novel enzyme provides sperm’s spark of life
A molecule in sperm triggers a fertilized egg to begin developing.
By John Travis -
Anthropology
Neandertals return at German cave site
Researchers who tracked down the location of a German cave where the first Neandertal skeleton was discovered in 1856 have unearthed new Neandertal finds.
By Bruce Bower -
Astronomy
Magnetars: A missing link
A rare group of ultradense stars may be magnetars, objects with the strongest magnetic fields known in the universe.
By Ron Cowen -
Health & Medicine
RNA interferes with cancer-cell growth
To curb the growth of cancer cells, scientists are silencing genes by introducing small strands of RNA.
By John Travis -
Physics
Neon gives healthy glow to reactor
Preferring neon to nicotine, magnetic-fusion reactors called tokamaks get a performance boost from puffs of the noble gas.
By Peter Weiss