News
- Health & Medicine
Vaccine could protect against virus that causes birth defects
An experimental vaccine against cytomegalovirus has the ability to prevent infection half the time it’s administered, suggesting the vaccine might prevent birth defects the virus can cause.
By Nathan Seppa - Physics
Evidence mounts for an exotic supersolid
Rubidium atoms simultaneously act like a solid and a superfluid.
- Plants
Plants reveal pollen-luring secrets
Scientists finally pin down the proteins one plant uses to lure pollen tubes to its plant ovaries.
- Paleontology
Dino feathers may have had earlier origin than thought
Researchers report that newly described dinosaur fossils suggest an ancient origin of feathers.
By Sid Perkins - Ecosystems
Too much intermingling puts native trout in trouble
Even a small amount of hybridizing may cause problems for the native westslope cutthroat trout.
By Susan Milius - Space
Saturn’s quadruple play
Last February, the Hubble Space Telescope captured a portrait of Saturn as four of its moons simultaneously passed in front.
By Ron Cowen - Earth
North America’s smallest dino predator
A new fossil analysis uncovers what may have been North America’s tiniest dino predator.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
MicroRNAs provide telltale signature of organ rejection
Levels of microRNAs in the blood and tissue distinguish rejected transplants from healthy tissue.
- Physics
Elusive Higgs particle has fewer hideouts
Physicists have announced new limits on the mass of the elusive Higgs boson. The particle's discovery would complete the standard model of particle physics.
By Ron Cowen - Health & Medicine
Gradual treatment of peanut allergies shows promise
A slow and incremental introduction of peanuts into the diet helps some children overcome an allergy to the food, but it takes time and close supervision.
By Nathan Seppa - Earth
Pushing back an oxygen-rich atmosphere
Hematite crystals in Australian rocks hint that Earth’s atmosphere was oxygenated earlier than previously thought.
By Sid Perkins - Humans
Radio relief for Rwandans’ social conflicts
Rwandans who listened to a yearlong radio soap opera developed increased tolerance for dissent, a greater sense of cooperation and more acceptance of marriage across ethnic lines.
By Bruce Bower