News
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HumansSmall lab animals exempted from law
The new farm bill explicitly exempts rats, mice, and birds from coverage under the federal Animal Welfare Act.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & MedicineChemical stops allergic reaction in tests
Researchers have developed a protein that short-circuits allergic reactions in mice and in tissue cultures of human cells.
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AnimalsBay leaves may make rat nests nicer
Wood rats may be fumigating their nests with bits of California bay leaves, sprigs that killed flea larvae in lab tests.
By Susan Milius -
Health & MedicineShuttling medicines via blood cells
Researchers have developed a way of encapsulating drugs in red blood cells, which can be used to deliver low doses of anti-inflammatory drugs to cystic fibrosis patients.
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HumansSolar series wins award for Science News
The Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society has given its 2002 popular writing award to Ron Cowen and Sid Perkins for a two-part series on cyclic variations in the sun's activity.
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AgricultureMoos, microbes, and methane
A feed additive could reduce methane emissions from cows.
By John Travis -
Ironing out underarm odor
Chemicals that deprive bacteria of iron may improve deodorants.
By John Travis -
Bacterial genes and cell scaffolding
A bacterium may have revealed the origin of a key cell structure.
By John Travis -
AstronomySeeing Red: A cool revival of Hubble’s infrared camera
New images provide a graphic demonstration that the Hubble Space Telescope's infrared vision has been restored.
By Ron Cowen -
Health & MedicineEfficient Germ: Human body boosts power of cholera microbe
Some genes in the cholera-causing bacterium Vibrio cholerae are activated and others are silenced when the microbe passes through the human gut, changes that make the bacterium more virulent.
By Nathan Seppa -
EcosystemsPlight of the Iguanas: Hidden die-off followed Galápagos spill
Residues of oil spilled in the Galapágos Islands in January 2001 may have caused a 60 percent decline in one island's colony of marine iguanas.
By Susan Milius -
Health & MedicineTransplant Triumph: Cloned cow kidneys thrive for months
Cow kidneys and other tissue made by cloning ward off immune rejection after transplantation into cows.
By John Travis