News
- Astronomy
Icy Split: Comet fragments into 19 pieces
A comet has split into 19 fragments strung out along a million-kilometer-long chain.
- Humans
Terrorism Repercussions: Scientists consider threats, opportunities after Sept. 11
A new report from the American Association for the Advancement of Science considers the potential effects on academic research of government policies proposed in response to the terrorism attack of Sept. 11, 2001.
- Astronomy
Cosmic Twist: X’s may mark spots where black holes merge
If whacked by a companion black hole, a big, jet-emitting black hole may spew superhot plasma in a new, crosswise direction.
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Resilient DNA: Gene may brighten future for abused kids
A long-term study in New Zealand indicates that a genetic variation associated with high concentrations of certain brain chemicals protects abused children from becoming violent and impulsive later in life.
- Earth
West Coast Shimmy: Smack from space triggered landslides along Pacific Coast
Scientists say they've found the first evidence along the Pacific Coast of massive landslides triggered by the impact from space 65 million years ago that's suspected to have wiped out the dinosaurs.
- Health & Medicine
Fat Chance: Cancer drugs may also thwart obesity
Drugs now undergoing testing as a cancer therapy because they thwart new blood vessel growth may also be a treatment for obesity.
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Sleep hits pothole on lonely street
Researchers have found that extremely lonely people get a poor night's sleep, a factor that may contribute to the link between loneliness and elevated incidence of physical illness and death.
- Earth
Study links dioxin to breast cancer
A new study finds support for the long-proposed hypothesis that dioxin, a hormonelike pollutant, can trigger breast cancer in heavily exposed women.
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Corporal punishment takes research hit
A review of 88 studies concludes that corporal punishment, such as spanking, yields no psychological or behavioral benefits for children and may prove harmful in some cases.
- Astronomy
An assault on comets
Over the next few years, a trio of comet missions, one of which was launched recently, promises to provide the closet look yet at the core of these icy relics from the formation of the solar system.
- Earth
Monsoon Warning: Data hint at wet and blustery future
Asian monsoons have been intensifying over the last 400 years, and they're slated to get worse.
- Health & Medicine
For Failing Hearts: Gene therapy stops decline in animals
Tests in hamsters have raised hopes for creating a gene therapy to stop the common downward spiral of chronic heart failure.
