News
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AstronomyCloudy Findings: A new population shows up in the Milky Way
A radio telescope has detected a previously unknown population of hundreds of hydrogen clouds in the gaseous halo that surrounds the disk of our galaxy.
By Ron Cowen -
AnthropologyAncient Lure of the Lakes: Early Americans followed the water
Archaeological investigations in Chile indicate that beginning around 13,000 years ago, early American settlers lived at high altitudes during humid periods, when they could set up hunting camps on the shores of lakes.
By Bruce Bower -
PhysicsNeptunium Nukes? Little-studied metal goes critical
Researchers have measured with far greater accuracy than ever before how much neptunium it would take to make a bomb.
By Peter Weiss -
PhysicsMagnetic snap gives ions extra pop
Magnetic fields pump heat into ions when field lines of opposite orientation snap and reconnect.
By Peter Weiss -
PhysicsGroovy ’70s sound keeps X rays tight
Cast aside as a way to reproduce music, LP phonograph records reveal another, unsuspected talent that scientists plan to exploit-focusing X rays.
By Peter Weiss -
MathWhirling to a chaotic finale
A black hole paired with another body can succumb to chaos when they orbit each other, making it more difficult to detect gravitational waves produced by such objects.
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MathTraffic woes of the single driver
At moderate traffic volumes, a single car moving at randomly fluctuating speeds can cause traffic jams in its wake.
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MathSpinning to a rolling stop
Air viscosity makes the rolling speed of a spinning, tipping coin go up as its energy goes down until the coin suddenly stops.
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Health & MedicineA different GI link to colon cancers
Diets rich in sweets and other quickly digested carbohydrates appear to increase an individual's risk of developing colon cancer.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & MedicineBerry promising anticancer prospects
Cranberry products can retard the growth and spread of breast cancer in rodents.
By Janet Raloff -
Disabled genes dull sense of smell
Mutated genes may explain why humans have a poor sense of smell.
By John Travis -
Genes, genes, and more genes
Scientists have almost finished sequencing the genes of rice and of a man.
By John Travis