News
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Health & Medicine
Exercise helps brains bounce back
Study of rhesus monkeys shows running protects dopamine neurons from death.
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Space
SuperEarths common for other stars
A mother lode of 32 newly discovered planets brings the number of known extrasolar planets to more than 400 and suggests that lightweight planets are common around sunlike stars.
By Ron Cowen -
Sperm whales as a carbon sink
New estimates suggest the mammals’ feeding habits help take in carbon.
By Susan Milius -
Space
Images show puny plume from moon crash
Data from another craft suggest iron and mercury, not frozen water, were kicked up when a spent rocket plunged into a lunar crater
By Ron Cowen -
Psychology
Mental disorders don’t hinder headache treatment
Headache patients may benefit from drug treatment even if they also suffer from depression or anxiety.
By Bruce Bower -
Computing
Quantum computers could tackle enormous linear equations
New work suggests that the envisioned systems would be powerful enough to quickly process even trillions of variables.
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Life
Golgi’s job stretches it thin
Researchers have pinpointed the protein that gives a cell’s control room its shape and also keeps it functioning.
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Space
Solar system’s edge surprises astronomers
New observations reveal a dense ribbon structure that current models don't explain.
By Ron Cowen -
Chemistry
Tongue’s sour-sensing cells taste carbonation
A protein splits carbon dioxide to give fizz its unique flavor.
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Health & Medicine
Brain speed-reads using just one part
Scientists measure the speed of recognizing, manipulating and producing speech in human brains.
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Anthropology
Pygmies’ short stature linked to high death rates
Island-dwelling pygmies provide contested evidence that body size shrinks as mortality rates climb.
By Bruce Bower -
Life
Fly pheromones can say yes and no
A new study begins to decode pheromone messages and finds that the same chemicals that attract can also maintain the species barrier.