News
- Materials Science
Better Stainless: Analysis could bring pits out of the steel
The key to developing pit-resistant stainless steel is to correct the dearth of chromium atoms around inclusions in the alloy.
- Health & Medicine
Low birth weight matters later, too
Premature babies weighing less than 1.5 kilograms at birth grow up to have lower achievement scores on standard tests and are less likely to go to college than are full-term babies weighing more than twice as much.
- Chemistry
A new molecule and a new signature
In two independent discoveries, chemists have prepared a new form of nitrogen and captured the infrared spectrum of an unusual molecule made up of hydrogen and oxygen.
- Materials Science
Scientists make nanothermometer
A carbon nanotube filled with gallium can be used to measure temperatures in microscopic environments.
- Astronomy
UV telescopes: One dead, one revived
One ultraviolet observatory burned up in Earth's atmosphere late last month while another has gotten a new lease on life.
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Women whiff men in sniff proficiency
Women of reproductive age exhibit a unique ability to learn to detect specific smells with great sensitivity, an aptitude that may reflect the activity of female hormones in the brain.
- Animals
Yellower blue tits make better dads
The yellow feathers on a male blue tit's breast could tell females that he'll be a good provider for the chicks.
- Plants
Tropical plants grow cool flowers
Tropical plants that position their flowers in the general direction of the sun are keeping the temperature comfortable for pollinators.
- Humans
Protection money: Budget favors defense and bioterror research
The budget proposal that President Bush forwarded to Congress includes the largest-ever increase for scientific research and development, with particularly generous provisions for defense and health research programs.
- Planetary Science
Extreme weather: Massive hurricanes meet on Jupiter
Both professional and amateur sky watchers are pointing their telescopes at Jupiter as two titanic storms in the giant planet's upper atmosphere meet each other.
- Health & Medicine
Slowing lupus: Stifled inflammation limits kidney damage
A new therapy for the autoimmune disease lupus works in mice by thwarting activation of immune-system proteins called complement.
- Health & Medicine
Taking a toll: Antiviral drugs activate immune system
Promising antiviral drugs activate a key immune-system protein.
