News
- Life
Hunting dark matter with DNA
Particle physicists propose a new way to detect dark matter using the molecule of life.
By Tanya Lewis - Tech
Plastic fantastic seals in speeding projectiles
Layered nanomaterial shows how bulletproof polymers wrap around penetrating particles.
- Health & Medicine
Smoking laws limit heart attacks
A county that banned smoking in bars, restaurants and other workplaces saw a one-third decrease, a new study finds.
By Nathan Seppa - Earth
Low central pressure among Hurricane Sandy’s unusual features
After slamming the Caribbean, storm approaches landfall in mid-Atlantic states.
- Earth
Ozone hole at smallest size in decades
Warm Antarctic temperatures help preserve UV-protecting layer.
By Erin Wayman -
- Health & Medicine
Same neurons at work in sleep and under anesthesia
Drugs boost activity in nerve cells that usually induce a slumber.
- Astronomy
Violent birth proposed for Saturn’s moon mishmash
A simulation suggests that giant collisions created Titan and the planet’s many smaller satellites.
By Nadia Drake - Humans
Shoulder fossil may put Lucy’s kind up a tree
Fossils of an ancient child suggest the more than 3-million-year-old hominid mixed climbing with walking.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Aspirin has selective benefit in colorectal cancer
Patients with a common gene mutation survive longer, which might enable doctors to predict who would get results from the drug.
By Nathan Seppa - Genetics
Cloning-like method targets mitochondrial diseases
Providing healthy ‘power plants’ in donor egg cells appears feasible in humans, a new study finds.
- Climate
Gulf Stream might be releasing seafloor methane
Greenhouse gas may be flowing into ocean waters off the U.S. east coast.
By Tanya Lewis