News
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Mind Control: Hypnosis offers amnesia clues
Results of a new study using hypnosis may shed light on the process of memory retrieval and the potential for one part of the brain to block it.
By Amy Maxmen - Earth
Hued Afterglow: Fingerprinting diamonds via phosphorescence
The eerie phosphorescence displayed by a rare form of blue diamond can be used as an easy, cheap, and nondestructive way to identify individual gemstones and to distinguish natural blue diamonds from synthetic ones.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
Risky DNA: Autism studies yield fresh genetic leads
Two new studies point to the diverse genetic roots of autism and related developmental disorders, while other evidence questions the claim that mercury-based childhood vaccines have contributed to rising autism rates.
By Bruce Bower - Tech
Energy forest
Silicon nanowires can at least double the storage capacity of lithium-ion batteries.
- Health & Medicine
Down syndrome’s anti-tumor effect
The chromosomal abnormality that causes Down syndrome might protect against some solid tumors.
By Nathan Seppa -
Foster care benefits abandoned kids
Orphan infants living in Romanian institutions who were randomly assigned to receive foster care showed marked improvements in thinking and reasoning skills by age 4-1/2, compared with their peers who remained institutionalized.
By Bruce Bower - Paleontology
The warm jungles of ancient France
Chemical analyses of amber excavated near Paris suggest that France was covered with a dense tropical forest about 55 million years ago.
By Sid Perkins - Animals
Purring birds teach their chicks to beg
African birds called pied babblers teach their chicks that certain parental noises mean food is on the way.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Smoking ups risk for type 2 diabetes
Smoking increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by up to 61 percent.
By Brian Vastag - Health & Medicine
Addiction Alleviator? Hallucinogen’s popularity grows
The unsanctioned use of an obscure hallucinogen, ibogaine, to treat addiction has exploded recently.
By Brian Vastag -
Reading the Repeats: Cells transcribe telomere DNA
Scientists have discovered that human cells make RNA transcripts of telomeres, the repetitive DNA at the ends of chromosomes, a finding that could have implications for understanding aging and cancer.
- Paleontology
Whales started small
The ancestors of whales, some of which are the largest creatures ever to evolve, probably were mammals no larger than a fox.
By Sid Perkins