News
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ChemistryMolecules get microscopic bar code labels
Researchers have created tiny, striped tags for labeling and tracking biologically important molecules.
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Health & MedicineChemical Neutralizes Anthrax Toxin
Scientists have created a synthetic compound that, when tested in rats, disables the toxin that makes anthrax lethal.
By Nathan Seppa -
PhysicsMagnets, not magic, make gas bulbs bad
Once as baffling as black magic, the random failures of glass bulbs used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) now appear to stem from unexpected magnetization of the glass.
By Peter Weiss -
PhysicsPath to new elements now looks steeper
Making novel, superheavy elements is harder than was previously expected, according to a new experiment, but the findings may also help physicists better choose which atoms to smash into which.
By Peter Weiss -
TechMicrojaws chomp cells to change them
A tiny, new biomedical device operates on such a small scale that it can grab individual red blood corpuscles in its jaws.
By Peter Weiss -
TechNervy chip may open window into brain
Researchers have built a simple circuit that blends living neurons with silicon-based transistors.
By Peter Weiss -
Health & MedicineOceans apart, but surgery succeeds
A French group performed the first transatlantic operation when surgeons in New York controlled a robot in Strasbourg, France, which removed a woman's gall bladder.
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Health & MedicineFor a change, infection stymies HIV
A hepatitis-like virus that causes no known diseases seems to help people stave off the progression of HIV, the AIDS virus.
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EarthRain of foreign dust fuels red tides
Soil particles from Africa, raining out from clouds over the Americas, may trigger the first steps that lead to toxic red-tide algal blooms off Florida.
By Janet Raloff -
EarthEU moves against flame retardants
The European Union has provisionally voted to ban the use and importation of nearly all members of a family of flame retardants known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers.
By Charlotte Schubert and Janet Raloff -
EarthWhere’s the smoke from the N.Y. fires?
Analyses of smoke from the destroyed World Trade Center towers indicated little risk that the fires would cause significant health effects for cleanup crews and city residents.
By Janet Raloff -
AnthropologyHumans in eastern Asia show ancient roots
Human ancestors lived in northeastern Asia about 1.36 million years ago, making it the oldest confirmed occupation site in eastern Asia.
By Bruce Bower