News
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Physics
Negative temperature, infinitely hot
Physicists propose using ultracold atoms to create a thermodynamics puzzle routinely in the laboratory.
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Life
Big reveals for genome of tiny animal
Tunicates’ scrambled gene order suggests that arrangement may not matter for vertebrate body plan and hints at the origins of mysterious DNA chunks called introns.
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Health & Medicine
Antiretroviral drugs may prevent HIV infection
Gay and bisexual men who don’t have the AIDS virus can reduce their risk of getting it by taking a drug combination, a new study finds.
By Nathan Seppa -
Humans
Visor might protect troops from blasts
Computer simulations show that the current military helmet lets explosive forces into the head through the face.
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Animals
Island orangs descend from small group
Bornean apes went through a genetic bottleneck when isolated during an ancient glaciation.
By Susan Milius -
Humans
Wine-trashing microbe identified
In finding the source of the off-tasting molecule MDMP, researchers hope to point the way to eliminating it.
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Psychology
Shared talking styles herald new and lasting romance
Verbally in-sync conversations may help to start and maintain dating relationships.
By Bruce Bower -
Humans
Extra weight in early childhood foretells later disease risk
A study tracking kids from birth into young adulthood identifies ages 2 to 6 as most crucial for predicting later problems with metabolic syndrome.
By Janet Raloff -
Paleontology
Ancient trumpets played eerie notes
Acoustic scientists re-create and analyze sounds from 3,000-year-old shell instruments for insight into pre-Inca civilization.
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Space
A cometary blizzard
NASA's EPOXI mission encountered a snowstorm when it zipped by Comet Hartley 2.
By Ron Cowen -
Space
It came from another galaxy
Extrasolar planet traces its origin outside the Milky Way to an ancient neighboring galaxy.
By Ron Cowen