News
- Tech
New method lights a path for solar cells
Using a technique in which chemical ingredients assemble themselves, a research team has developed a potentially inexpensive way of making solar cells.
- Ecosystems
Marine plankton put nitrogen in a fix
New genetic analyses of tropical marine microorganisms hint that some species are converting significant amounts of atmospheric nitrogen into nutrients, helping to fortify the base of the ocean's food pyramid.
- Health & Medicine
Antioxidants + heart drugs = bad medicine?
Taking dietary antioxidant supplements along with certain cholesterol-regulating drugs may diminish the effectiveness of those drugs in boosting the so-called good cholesterol.
- Health & Medicine
Insect-saliva vaccine thwarts parasite
Mice inoculated with a component of sand fly saliva develop immunity to Leishmania, a protozoan that infects hundreds of thousands of people in the tropics each year.
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The trouble with small male spiders
A test of an old view of sexual cannibalism—that it's a way of rejecting suitors—finds that small males lose out, but not from attacks by females.
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Funnel-web males send knockouts in air
Male funnel-web spiders seem to waft some kind of gas toward females that renders the females limp, enabling the males to mate without being eaten.
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River dolphins can whistle, too, sort of
In the most elaborate attempt so far to eavesdrop on Brazil's pink river dolphins, researchers have detected what may be a counterpart to seafaring dolphins' whistles.
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Do parents with extra help goof off?
When researchers stepped in to help feed baby sparrows, the parents did not slack off but brought even more food.
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New robot frog gets into fights
Researchers have finally managed to build a robot frog that can provoke male frogs to attack.
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Nursing moms face meds dilemma
A research review yields a little advice and a lot of uncertainty for nursing mothers with mental disorders who may expose their babies to potential dangers if they take prescribed psychoactive drugs.
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Medicinal mirth gets research rebuke
Little scientific evidence to date supports any of the purported physical health benefits of laughter and humor, a psychologist concludes.
- Health & Medicine
Chemotherapy leads to bone loss
In women with early-stage breast cancer, malfunctioning ovaries and significant bone loss can occur within 6 months of chemotherapy treatment.
