News
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Astronomy
An image to relish
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a high-resolution image of an object that looks like a giant hamburger.
By Ron Cowen -
Computing
Writing faster with your eyes
A new method for gaze-operated, hands-free text entry is faster and more accurate than using an on-screen keyboard.
By Kristin Cobb -
Health & Medicine
Lost and found
Researchers have shown that a drug may shepherd a mutated protein—gone astray in people with cystic fibrosis—into its proper place.
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Health & Medicine
Processing corn boosts antioxidants
Cooking sweet corn increases its disease-fighting antioxidant activity, despite decreasing its vitamin C content.
By Kristin Cobb -
Planetary Science
It’s only a sharper moon
Astronomers have taken what appears to be the sharpest image of the moon ever recorded from Earth.
By Ron Cowen -
Math
Packing spheres around a sphere
A mathematician has proved that the optimal arrangement of 12 identical spheres around and touching a 13th is a highly symmetric pattern based on the 12-faced geometric shape known as the dodecahedron.
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Math
A fair deal for housemates
A new mathematical recipe for fair division allows people to resolve disputes over the splitting up of rent, goods, or even burdensome chores.
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Anatomy of antisocial personality
A disturbance in the brain's prefrontal cortex may either contribute to or result from a psychiatric condition called antisocial personality disorder.
By Bruce Bower -
Treatment enigma for disturbed kids
Two new studies offer conflicting views of the effectiveness of mental-health services for children and teenagers.
By Bruce Bower -
Survey raises issue of isolated Web users
A controversial study suggests that heavy users of the Internet become socially isolated.
By Bruce Bower -
Astronomy
Votes cast for and against the WIMP factor
Physicists this week duked it out over a bunch of WIMPs, elementary particles that—if they exist—could solve a decades-old mystery in cosmology and help unify the four fundamental forces of nature.
By Ron Cowen -
Chemistry
Power plants: Algae churn out hydrogen
Green algae can produce hydrogen, a clean-burning fuel that could one day power pollution-free cars.
By Corinna Wu