News
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- Anthropology
Ancient Ailment? Early human may have carried tuberculosis
A 500,000-year-old Homo erectus skull from Turkey may show telltale signs of tuberculosis, by far the earliest such evidence of the disease.
By Brian Vastag -
Cells’ innards may share origin
Many of the internal structures of a cell may have evolved from an ancient, simpler compartment.
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Escaping flatland
Growing cells in gelatinous materials gains in popularity as more researchers realize how the three-dimensional arrangement of cells influences cell behavior—and increases the relevance of experiments.
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Cell’s core pore structure solved
Scientists working in yeast have deciphered the structure of the complex cluster of proteins that regulates access to the nucleus of cells.
- Animals
Female antelopes take the lead in courtship
Topi antelopes, with their hesitant males, reverse the usual sex roles in mammal courtship.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Big kids at risk for heart disease
Overweight children grow up to have an elevated risk for blocked coronary arteries as adults, a long-term Danish study finds.
By Brian Vastag - Planetary Science
A sunlike star’s early development
A new infrared portrait of an embryonic sunlike star reveals an early, crucial step in the process of planet formation.
By Ron Cowen -
Perchlorate Pump: Molecule draws contaminant into breast milk
A molecular pump meant to transport iodine also concentrates perchlorate, an environmental pollutant, in breast milk.
- Health & Medicine
Angiogenesis Factors: Tracking down the suspects in blood vessel growth near tumors
Tumors enlist certain bone marrow cells in efforts to grow new blood vessels for self-nourishment.
By Nathan Seppa - Physics
15 = 3 × 5: Photons do their first quantum math
Physicists have performed the first calculation involving manipulation of the quantum states of photons, another step on the road to optical quantum computers.
- Earth
The Salt Flat That Isn’t Flat: World’s largest playa sports ridges, valleys
An innovative field survey of the world's largest salt flat, a New Jersey–size playa high in the Andes, reveals that the barren expanse actually has minuscule, centimeter-scale variations in topography.
By Sid Perkins