News
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Quantum PhysicsQuantum Cheshire Cat experiment splits particles from their properties
When facing a fork in the road, neutrons appear to go in one direction and their spins in the other.
By Andrew Grant -
LifeFor yeast life span, calorie restriction may be a wash
A new technique for growing and tracking yeast cells finds caloric restriction doesn’t lengthen life span, though some researchers question the study method.
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AstronomyTilted binary stars test theories of planet formation
Tilted disks in binary star systems may help astronomers explain variety of exoplanet orbits.
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EarthMerging magma can set off supervolcanoes in less than 10,000 years
The reconstruction of a massive eruption 4.5 million years ago near Yellowstone National Park suggests that magma chambers merging together beneath a supervolcano can trigger explosions in less than 10,000 years.
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NeuroscienceHippocampus may help homing pigeons explore
When researchers remove pigeons’ hippocampi, birds fly straighter on early parts of journey home.
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GeneticsGene activity change can produce cancer
Scientists have long thought that epigenetic changes, which alter gene activity, can cause cancer. Now they have demonstrated it in a mouse experiment.
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Health & MedicineLong-term Parkinson’s treatment sheds bad rep
Prolonged used of levodopa doesn’t increase the severity of side effects from the Parkinson’s drug, new research shows.
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ChemistryMolecular cage traps rare gases
Organic compound could cull valuable xenon from the air and detect cancer-causing radon in homes.
By Beth Mole -
PaleontologyFeathered dinosaurs may have been the rule, not the exception
Newly discovered fossil suggests feathers may have been common among all dinosaur species.
By Meghan Rosen -
Materials ScienceWeird materials could make faster computers
Topological insulators could speed up how computers switch between 1s and 0s.
By Andrew Grant -
EcosystemsMoose drool can undermine grass defenses
Saliva from moose and reindeer sabotages plants’ chemical weaponry.
By Susan Milius -
LifeMouse sperm parties make for straight swimmers
Mouse sperm hunt for eggs in packs, but grouping doesn’t boost speed. Instead, gangs of the reproductive cells move in straighter lines.
By Nsikan Akpan