News
- Planetary Science
Colliding moonlets
New photos of collisions in one of Saturn’s rings provide a local lab for understanding the interactions that might shape young solar system formation.
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- Health & Medicine
Bad synergy
Hookworm and other parasite infections work in concert to heighten risk of anemia in children. The problem may be especially bad for school-aged children, whose learning ability is often compromised by anemia.
By Nathan Seppa - Life
Zombie babysitters
Wasp attack creates undead caterpillars that protect wasp young
By Susan Milius - Space
Better view of the Milky Way
New studies revise the structure of the Milky Way, exchanging the old map of a four-armed spiral galaxy for a two-arm version. The makeover also includes the discovery of a smaller, short, gaseous arm that is a long-sought counterpart to a similar arm near the galaxy’s center.
By Ron Cowen - Planetary Science
Small exoplanet discovered
Astronomers have discovered the smallest planet known that is beyond the solar system and orbits an ordinary parent body.
By Ron Cowen - Space
Making an impression
In its seventh day after successfully landing on the Red Planet, the Phoenix Lander digs its first trench and is ready to start its ice-hunting.
- Health & Medicine
Microbes clean up mercury
Researchers think a microbe could clean up mercury-laced Native American artifacts.
- Life
Replaying evolution
By watching bacteria evolve in the lab for 20 years, researchers show that evolution may be rather capricious.
- Humans
Fostering gains
New studies indicate that abused and neglected kids benefit from living with relatives and from high-quality foster care services.
By Bruce Bower - Earth
Natural heat
Heat from the decay of radioactive elements deep within the planet could meet Earth’s energy needs almost three times over — if we could harness all of it.
By Sid Perkins - Planetary Science
Dispatch from Mars, Sol 4
The good news is a tentative sighting of ice by the Mars Phoenix Lander. The bad news is the discovery of a glitch in the system that will analyze soil samples.
By Ron Cowen