News
- Materials Science
Ceramics stretch for future applications
Researchers have created a ceramic that stretches to 10 times its original length in record time.
- Physics
Model may expose how friction lets loose
Rather than just grinding past each other, sliding surfaces may tremble with minuscule ripples that overcome friction as they move along.
By Peter Weiss - Health & Medicine
Even a little coffee may up heart risk
Drinking just 1 to 3 cups of coffee daily may adversely affect blood concentrations of cholesterol and homocysteine.
By Janet Raloff - Paleontology
New Fossils Resolve Whale’s Origin
The first discovery of early whale fossils with key ankle bones intact provides compelling paleontological evidence that whales are closely related to many living ungulates, a relationship already supported by molecular data.
By Ben Harder - Health & Medicine
Constipation might signal Parkinson’s
Men who are constipated are more likely to develop Parkinson's disease than men who are not.
By Nathan Seppa - Health & Medicine
Obesity linked to pancreatic cancer
People who are obese or who have led sedentary lives with little exercise are more likely than others to develop pancreatic cancer.
By Nathan Seppa - Tech
Designing planet rovers that tumble
Before the decade is out, towering wind-driven balloons may roam the Martian surface, traveling far more extensively than wheeled rovers do.
By Peter Weiss - Tech
Futuristic engine proves its mettle
A miniature missile shot from a cannon has demonstrated for the first time in free flight that a futuristic jet engine called a scramjet can propel itself.
By Peter Weiss - Earth
Quantum physics explains core anomaly
Scientists have used the principles of quantum physics to answer the long-standing puzzle of why seismic waves travel at different speeds in different directions across Earth's inner core.
By Sid Perkins - Earth
Himalayas may be due for big temblors
Scientists say that a narrow region that rims the southern edge of the Tibetan Plateau could be the spawning grounds for large earthquakes that could threaten millions in southern Asia in the decades to come.
By Sid Perkins - Archaeology
Ancestors who came in from the cold
Researchers found the remains of a 36,000-year-old human occupation in the Russian Arctic, which represents the earliest evidence of a human presence that far north.
By Bruce Bower - Archaeology
Neandertals used tools with versatility
Microscopic data from artifacts found at two Ukrainian sites indicate that Neandertals used stone tools in flexible ways that allowed them to maintain a broad diet for nearly 50,000 years.
By Bruce Bower