News
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Cardinal girls learn faster than boys
A female cardinal learns about as many songs as a male but in one-third the time.
By Susan Milius -
Flush-pursuers fake out fleeing prey
Birds that advertise their presence to potential prey may improve their chances of catching a meal.
By Kelly Malcom -
Health & Medicine
New guidelines would cut cholesterol
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has developed new guidelines for physicians that could triple the number of people taking cholesterol-lowering medication.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & Medicine
Angiostatin testing in people begins
Angiostatin, a drug that cured cancer in mice, appears safe to use in preliminary tests on people with cancer.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & Medicine
Malaria prevention works in Tanzania
Giving infants intermittent doses of antimalarial drugs during their first year prevents serious illness in most cases and doesn't leave them susceptible to harsh disease in their second year.
By Nathan Seppa -
Astronomy
Sounds of the universe confirm Big Bang
Two experiments examining the detailed structure of the cosmic microwave background, the relic radiation from the Big Bang, have confirmed the basic model of how cosmologists believe the universe evolved.
By Ron Cowen -
Dormant bacteria may spawn infection
Clinicians' standard methods don't detect the dormant phase of a bacterium that commonly causes urinary tract infections in women.
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Undercooking makes germs strong
Precooking servings to sublethal temperatures before the final cooking actually makes germ killing more difficult.
By Janet Raloff -
Dirty money harbors bacterial dangers
More than half of 68 dollar bills collected at a high school sporting event and a grocery store in Ohio hosted bacteria that commonly infect poeple in hospitals or those with depressed immune systems.
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Breast milk battles thrush in infants
Human breast milk inhibits the growth of yeast spores, the source of the painful fungal infection of the mouth and throat that can be deadly for infants with AIDS.
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Health & Medicine
Heart disease linked to clotting gene
African Americans with a mutation in a blood-clotting gene have a sixfold increase in the risk of heart disease, but this is not the case for white Americans with the same mutation.
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Health & Medicine
Statins’ structure blocks cholesterol
X-ray crystallography shows that statins impede the build-up of cholesterol by physically blocking the binding site of an enzyme important for cholesterol production.