News
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SpaceSome like it hot
Astronomers have discovered the hottest and largest known extrasolar planet.
By Ron Cowen -
EarthSalinity sensors
Trace elements in the carbonate shells of freshwater mussels could serve as an archive of road salt pollution.
By Sid Perkins -
Health & MedicineBad air for growing brains and minds
Preliminary evidence suggests that children’s regular exposure to heavy air pollution can be accompanied by brain inflammation and lowered scores on intelligence tests.
By Bruce Bower -
MathAn infinite beautiful mind
Theorem identifies cases in which infinite-choice games will have at least one Nash equilibrium.
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MathNumbers don’t add up for U.S. girls
Culture may turn potentially high achievers away from math, new study suggests.
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LifeParenthood: Male sharks need not apply
A second case of a virgin shark birth suggests some female sharks may be able to reproduce without males.
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LifeClimate warms, creatures head for the hills
Unusual data let scientists test predictions that global warming drives species up slopes.
By Susan Milius -
LifeCommunity of one
Scientists have discovered how a single bacterial species living in a gold mine in South Africa survives on its own. Its genome contains everything it needs to live independently.
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PaleontologyNew arthropod species really stuck together
Recent fossil discovery shows that new species of arthropod formed chains, raising the possibility of communal behavior.
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LifeA better understanding of inherited breast cancer
New studies on a type of inherited breast cancer identify a key factor with different roles in different cancers.
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HumansNew hand, same brain map
An investigation of a man who received a successful hand transplant suggests that reorganization of sensory maps in the brain following amputation can be reversed in short order.
By Bruce Bower -
EarthLake Superior’s ups and downs
Analyses of trees and other organic material buried in a riverbank near Lake Superior’s northwestern shore shed new light on how much and when the lake level varied soon after the last ice age.
By Sid Perkins