News
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NeuroscienceRunning doesn’t make rats forgetful
Running doesn’t seem to wipe out old memories in rats, concludes a new study that contradicts earlier reports suggesting that exercise does actually help old memories fade and new memories form — in other rodents.
By Meghan Rosen -
AnthropologyOldest evidence of cancer in human family tree found
Bony growths on fossils may push origins of this disease way back in the Stone Age.
By Bruce Bower -
PaleontologyWoolly mammoths’ last request: Got water?
Woolly mammoths survived on an Alaskan island thousands of years after mainland mammoths went extinct. But they died out when their lakes dried up, thanks to a warming climate and rising sea levels.
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ArchaeologyParasitic worm eggs found on Silk Road latrine artifacts
Microscopic study of latrine finds indicates disease spread along ancient Asian trade route.
By Bruce Bower -
NeuroscienceGift-giving brain cells are lifeline to injured nerve cells
After an injury, astrocytes give nerve cells a gift of mitochondria, mouse study suggests.
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LifeHuman eye spots single photons
Human eyes are sensitive enough to detect individual particles of light.
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LifeDistinctions blur between wolf species
Red and eastern wolves might be gray wolf/coyote blends instead of distinct species
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EarthNew scenario proposed for birth of Pacific Plate
The Pacific tectonic plate formed at the junction of three other plates and above of the remains of a submerged plate, geophysicists propose.
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LifeThe nose knows how to fight staph
A bacterium isolated from the nose produces a new antibiotic active against resistant pathogens.
By Eva Emerson -
ChemistryVaping’s toxic vapors come mainly from e-liquid solvents
New study homes in on a primary source of toxic vaping compounds: the thermal breakdown of solvents used to dissolve flavorings in e-liquids. And older, dirtier e-cigs generate more of these toxicants, study shows.
By Janet Raloff -
GeneticsDolly the Sheep’s cloned sisters aging gracefully
Cloning doesn’t cause premature aging in sheep.
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EarthAncient air bubbles could revise history of Earth’s oxygen
Pockets of ancient air trapped in rock salt for around 815 million years suggest that oxygen was abundant well before the first animals appear in the fossil record.