News
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SpaceXENON100 fails to find dark matter
A hundred days of solitude for an experiment designed to rendezvous with the universe's missing mass put new limits on the elusive material's properties.
By Ron Cowen -
Health & MedicineBody’s immune protein fights breast cancer
A new study clarifies the role of interleukin-25 in stalling malignancy, possibly clearing the way for new drug development.
By Nathan Seppa -
LifeAntarctic lake hides bizarre ecosystem
Bacterial colonies form cones similar to fossilized examples of Earth’s early life.
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ChemistryPlants and predators pick same poison
Zygaena caterpillars and their herbaceous hosts independently evolved an identical recipe for cyanide.
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LifePenguin declines may come down to krill
Lack of food appears to be hurting birds on the Antarctic Peninsula.
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PhysicsScrewy symmetry revealed
Math trick that reverses spirals and other shapes that twist and turn should provide new ways to understand and design materials.
By Devin Powell -
MathCells take on traveling salesman problem
With neither minds nor maps- chemical-sensing immune players do well with decades-old mathematical problem, a computer simulation reveals.
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SpaceBaffling blowup in distant galaxy
A high-energy blast has gone on for 11 days, puzzling astronomers as to its source.
By Ron Cowen -
SpacePioneer puzzle pinned on thermodynamics
Waste heat, not exotic physics, is slowing two 1970s-era space probes down more than would be expected, a new study claims.
By Ron Cowen -
Health & MedicineGut microbes may foster heart disease
In breaking down a common dietary fat, helpful bacteria initiate production of an artery-hardening compound, mouse experiments suggest.
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SpaceFermilab data hint at possible new particle
For the second time in weeks, results from powerful collisions of protons and antiprotons at Fermilab’s Tevatron accelerator can’t be explained with standard model of physics.
By Ron Cowen -
LifeWhy diversity rules
A new experiment demonstrates the way a multitude of specialized species absorb nutrients more effectively than a highly productive one.
By Susan Milius