News
- Anthropology
Script Delivery: New World writing takes disputed turn
Researchers announced, to considerable controversy, that inscriptions found on artifacts at an Olmec site in southeastern Mexico represented the earliest known writing system in the Americas.
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Debate over Alzheimer’s enzyme flares up
Scientists continue to tussle over the identity of an enzyme implicated in Alzheimer's disease.
- Earth
Algal bloom is smothering Florida coral
The anomalous growth of a native alga—now blanketing the seabed in a huge swath off the southern coast of Florida—points to overfertilization with upwelling sewage.
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Cancer patients accentuate the positive
Group therapy that promotes positive types of personal growth in breast cancer patients may also result in beneficial physiological changes.
- Agriculture
Bt corn variety OK for black swallowtails
The first published field study of butterflies and genetically altered corn finds no harm to black swallowtail caterpillars from a common corn variety.
- Health & Medicine
Keeping the beat
Muscle cells taken from embryonic rats and put into an adult rat's heart can transmit the electric signals that govern the heartbeat.
- Tech
Robotic heart surgery
By using robotic rather than conventional open-heart techniques, doctors can perform heart surgery with smaller incisions, giving patients less pain and speeding recovery.
- Health & Medicine
Enzyme Shortage May Lead to Lupus
Without the enzyme DNase I, mice are vulnerable to symptoms of lupus, a debilitating autoimmune disease.
- Health & Medicine
Cycling and surgery have similar effect
Among people with chest pain because of clogged heart arteries, regular exercise on a stationary bike reduced symptoms better than surgery did.
- Health & Medicine
A hot new therapy?
Spending time in a sauna improves heart function in people with chronic heart failure.
- Planetary Science
Seeing Saturn
After 5 years of interplanetary travel, the Saturn-bound Cassini spacecraft has taken its first picture of the ringed planet.
- Health & Medicine
Protein may signal heart problems
A protein already linked to inflammation is also a strong predictor of heart problems.
