News
- Earth
Do your bit to fight toxic pool pollution
New data suggest that showering before a swim in the community pool could help limit the formation of toxic chemicals in the water.
- Health & Medicine
Diluted smallpox vaccine is potent
About 15 million doses of smallpox vaccine held by the U.S. government can be diluted to one-tenth their original concentration and still be effective for immunizing people.
- Plants
Trees dim the light on spring flowers
Early spring flowers and the sugar maples they grow under use different alarm clocks to get going in the spring, which can make life hard for the flowers in northern forests.
- Health & Medicine
Pulse pressure linked to dialysis death rate
People on kidney dialysis who have high pulse pressure—the difference between the top and bottom numbers on a blood pressure reading—seem to be at a greater risk of dying than those with low pulse pressure.
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Immune cells carry concealed weapons
Scientists propose that protein-cleaving enzymes called proteases are the real microbe destroyers in bacteria-killing cells called neutrophils.
- Humans
Web site debuts on junior high science
A new Web site reviews the accuracy of commonly used middle school physical science books and offers tips and assistance for teachers working from those texts.
- Agriculture
Journal disowns transgene report
The journal Nature now says it shouldn't have published a report that genetically engineered corn is leaking exotic genes into the traditional maize crops of Mexico.
- Materials Science
A Field of Diminutive Daisies
Researchers have created tiny daisies as a demonstration of a new technique that creates three-dimensional structures from carbon nanotubes.
- Health & Medicine
Blood Vessel Poisoning: Arsenic narrows artery that feeds brain
New research suggests that drinking arsenic-laden water can produce dangerous narrowing in the carotid artery, which channels blood through the neck to the brain.
- Health & Medicine
Scrambled Drugs: Transgenic chickens could lay golden eggs
Scientists have created transgenic chickens able to produce foreign proteins—and, potentially, pharmaceuticals—in their eggs.
- Animals
Lamprey Allure: Females rush to males’ bile acid
An unusual sex attractant has turned up in an analysis of sea lampreys, and it may inspire new ways to defend the Great Lakes against invasive species.
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Night Patrol for Tired Cops: Police lose sleep over workday hassles
A large proportion of big-city police officers suffers from insomnia and other serious sleep problems that stem from chronic work stress.
