News
- Earth
‘Fossil’ mountains entombed by ice
Cold temperatures have kept a buried Antarctic range fresh for hundreds of millions of years.
- Humans
How testing improves memory
By creating associations, quizzes improve recall much more effectively than just reviewing notes.
- Psychology
Getting to not know you
Knowledge of a romantic partner’s likes and dislikes declines over decades, a study finds.
By Bruce Bower - Space
Existence of habitable exoplanet questioned
A Swiss team has failed to confirm what has recently been claimed to be the first planet outside the solar system that might be right for life.
By Ron Cowen - Chemistry
Guards of the blood-brain barrier identified
Specialized cells called pericytes are crucial to protecting the central nervous system, two new studies demonstrate.
- Life
More than a chicken, fewer than a grape
A decade after the completion of the Human Genome Project, the exact number of human genes remains elusive.
- Space
CSI: Asteroid Belt
Astronomers hunt clues in the rubble of a recent collision between two space rocks.
By Ron Cowen - Life
New species a little nipper
A mongoose-like creature from Madagascar is the first new carnivore to be discovered in more than two decades.
- Health & Medicine
Implants help heroin addicts kick habit
Installing a slow-release drug under the skin enables some abusers of illicit and prescription drugs to get through withdrawal, a new study shows.
By Nathan Seppa - Planetary Science
A comet’s tail
Already under observation by astronomers, Hartley 2 will be visible in dark skies when it passes Earth on October 20.
By Ron Cowen - Life
Pterosaurs might have soared 10,000 miles nonstop
Flight analysis suggests ancient reptiles were record setters.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Mice robbed of darkness fatten up
Time of day can affect calories' impact, a study shows.
By Janet Raloff