News
- Earth
Firm evidence that Earth’s core is solid
Faint yet distinct ground motions recorded by a large network of seismic instruments in Japan in early 2006 are the strongest, most direct evidence that Earth’s inner core is solid.
- Health & Medicine
Finding the golden genes
Advances in gene therapy could tempt some athletes to enhance their genetic makeup, leading some researchers to work on detection methods just in case.
- Earth
Carbon sequestration frustration
Cradle-to-grave analysis of emissions from power plants suggests that capturing and burying CO2 could have environmental costs.
- Life
H9N2 avian flu strain has pandemic potential
Just one change in a strain of avian flu virus makes it transmissible by direct contact in ferrets, but the virus still lacks the ability to spread by airborne particles.
- Plants
Bittersweet fruits
A new study provides strong evidence that fruits harm predators with the same chemicals that, for example, give chili peppers their spice.
- Health & Medicine
Running interference on cholesterol
Injected RNA molecule lowers LDL in rats and monkeys.
- Life
Humans aided, constrained by fossil fuels
Maintaining long-term population will require alternate energy sources.
- Space
Magellanic firestorm
To celebrate the Hubble Space Telescope’s 100,000th orbit about Earth, astronomers aimed the observatory at a firestorm of stellar activity in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.
- Physics
Invisibility within sight
Two new studies take steps toward practical materials that can bend light backward, which could lead to invisibility cloaks.
- Health & Medicine
Never bet against a pro
Players run a simulation of a throw in their own brains and muscles and are more accurate at predicting whether a shot will go in the basket than coaches, sports journalists or novice watchers.
- Life
DNA defense
Scientists find a type of white blood cell releases its mitochondrial DNA, along with toxic proteins, as a defense against invading bacteria.
- Health & Medicine
Perfumed mother’s milk
New study shows synthetic musks are passed on to babies through mother’s milk, but how these artificial compounds act in the body still unclear.
