News
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Arsenic Pollution Disrupts Hormones
Researchers have found that arsenic thwarts the action of glucocorticoid hormones, suggesting a possible explanation of how long-term exposure to the metal in drinking water could cause cancer, diabetes, and other chronic diseases.
By Linda Wang -
Phew! Orchid perfume turns revolting
Orchids that can smell so alluring that bees try to mate with them can also smell repulsive to the insects.
By Susan Milius -
Consumer survey: Caged mink value water
Even after 70 generations in captivity, caged American mink still seem to miss the swimming they would do in the wild.
By Susan Milius -
Materials Science
Crystals step up to a new surface
Researchers have made crystals that reversibly change their surface shape when hit by light.
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Materials Science
SQUID can catch concealed corrosion
A new technology that can detect corrosion deep within aluminum aircraft parts has revealed that high concentrations of salt don't corrode hidden joints any more than low levels of salt.
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Health & Medicine
Cancer cells have a ticket to ride
Cancer cells may spread using the same system that immune system cells use to move through the body.
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Health & Medicine
Gene links eyelids and early menopause
A gene that orchestrates ovary and eyelid development may be the key to early-onset menopause.
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Humans
I do solemnly swear. . .
An international science organization is surveying codes of ethics from around the world as a first step towards considering whether scientists globally need an analog of the Hippocratic Oath.
By Janet Raloff -
Humans
High court gives EPA a partial victory
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency can implement tougher controls on tiny airborne particulates that can get deep inside people's lungs.
By Janet Raloff -
Paleontology
Jumbled bones show birds on the menu
A fossilized pellet of partially digested bones of juvenile and baby birds provides the first evidence that birds served as food for predators.
By Sid Perkins -
Paleontology
First brachiosaur tooth found in Asia
A fossil tooth found along a dinosaur trackway in South Korea is the first evidence that brachiosaurs roamed Asia.
By Sid Perkins -
Health & Medicine
New drug to treat blood poisoning
For the first time, a drug has reduced deaths from severe sepsis, a life-threatening immune reaction occurring in 750,000 people in the United States each year.