News
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PhysicsPaper planes get laser liftoff
Powering aircraft by remote lasers works—at least on paper.
By Peter Weiss -
EarthStudy links cancer to Vatican Radio
Broadcast transmissions from a forest of antennas owned by Vatican Radio, outside Rome, appear to have boosted leukemia incidence in neighboring communities.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & MedicineMethod could boost diabetes therapy
Allowing insulin-producing islets to grow in close contact with each other during cell culture may increase the chance of successful transplant into diabetic people.
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TechSoftware bugs cost big bucks
An epidemic of software errors in industrial computer programs is costing the United States $60 billion per year.
By Peter Weiss -
Health & MedicineMelanoma gene quickly reeled in
Biologists have discovered a gene that may contribute to many cases of deadly skin cancer.
By John Travis -
MathUnveiling the work of Archimedes
An ancient manuscript long hidden from public view may provide significant insights into the way Archimedes did his mathematical work more than 2,000 years ago.
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MathTrailing after double bubbles
A proof of the double-bubble conjecture for the case in which the two bubbles' volumes are unequal appears within reach.
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Health & MedicineImpotence high after prostate removal
Roughly 60 percent of men who have a cancerous prostate gland removed are subsequently impotent.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineFirm nears completion of human genome
Celera Genomics announced that it has sequenced 90 percent of the human genome and claimed it has found about 97 percent of all human genes.
By John Travis -
Health & MedicinePoor glucose metabolism risks clots
Excess concentrations of insulin in the blood may hamper the body's ability to break down blood clots efficiently.
By Nathan Seppa -
AnimalsRedder is healthier in squawking birds
When barn swallow nestlings open wide for food, their parents may be looking for the healthiest throats.
By Susan Milius -
Evolution may not be slow or random
Studies of fruit flies taking over the New World and stickleback fish adapting to Canadian lakes suggest that evolution can proceed quickly and take predictable paths.
By Susan Milius