News
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Health & MedicineLost 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 & MedicineProcessing corn boosts antioxidants
Cooking sweet corn increases its disease-fighting antioxidant activity, despite decreasing its vitamin C content.
By Kristin Cobb -
Planetary ScienceIt’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 -
All about Me: Left brain may shine spotlight on self
Experiments with a split-brain patient suggest that left-hemisphere structures contribute to the conscious understanding of oneself.
By Bruce Bower -
AnimalsWhat’s the Mane Point? Foes and females both have role
The condition of a lion's mane apparently advertises high-quality mates to picky females and wards off male adversaries.
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Materials ScienceA Cut above the Ordinary: Low-tech machining yields coveted nanostructure
A new finding that machining of metals imparts a hard, fine-grained structure to turnings and other scraps may lead to less costly but more durable parts for cars and other applications.
By Peter Weiss -
PhysicsPeer Pressure in Numbers: Physicists model the power of social sway
A mathematical model of peer-influenced behavior may help explain some unexpected patterns that have been observed in financial data and bird populations.
By Kristin Cobb -
Planetary ScienceLost in Space: Comet mission appears to have broken apart
A spacecraft that had just begun its journey to two comets has fallen silent and may have broken apart.
By Ron Cowen -
EarthGlobal Impact: Space object may have spread debris worldwide
Sediments laid down about 3.47 billion years ago in what are now western Australia and eastern South Africa contain remnants of what may have been an extraterrestrial-object impact large enough to disperse debris over the entire planet.
By Sid Perkins -
Anthrax Stopper: Viral enzyme detects, kills bacterium
A virus that preys upon the anthrax bacterium produces an enzyme that can be exploited to detect and kill the biowarfare agent.
By John Travis -
MathMath Prizes: Honors for connecting number theory, geometry, and algebra
Fields Medals were awarded to two mathematicians, Laurent Lafforgue and Vladimir Voevodsky, who forged new links between different branches of mathematics.
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EcosystemsPlants hitch rides with box turtles
In the pine rocklands of southern Florida, at least nine plant species find new homes by traveling through a turtle's gut.
By Susan Milius