News
- Health & Medicine
Perception is longevity
Mice lived longer when they were fooled into sensing lower insulin levels than they actually had.
- Planetary Science
Saturn’s retinue: 60 and counting
A little moon, two kilometers across, is Saturn's 60th satellite.
By Ron Cowen - Earth
Erosion accelerates along Alaskan coast
Alaska's northern coast is falling into the sea at an accelerating rate.
By Sid Perkins -
Old viruses have new tricks
Invading viruses can trick a cell into turning off its defense mechanisms.
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Antidepressants trim suicide tries
Treating depression with antidepressant drugs reduces the risk of suicide.
By Bruce Bower -
Chemical Conversation: Red blood cells send a signal that makes platelets less sticky
Red blood cells can send a chemical signal that makes platelets less sticky, easing blood flow through narrow vessels.
By Sarah Webb - Health & Medicine
Brain Seasoning: A common spice could deter Alzheimer’s
A compound in the curry spice turmeric restores the ability of immune system cells to destroy plaques linked to Alzheimer's disease.
- Animals
Den Mothers: Bears shift dens as ice deteriorates
As Arctic ice has dwindled, pregnant polar bears in northern Alaska have become more likely to dig their birthing dens on land or nearshore ice than on floating masses of sea ice.
By Susan Milius - Computing
Check on Checkers: In perfect game, there’s no winner
Thanks to an immense calculation that worked out every possible game position, computers can now play a flawless game of checkers and force a draw every time.
- Health & Medicine
Persistent Prions: Soilbound agents are more potent
Prions, deformed proteins that cause brain-destroying diseases such as chronic wasting disease or mad cow disease, are more infectious when bound to soil particles.
- Earth
Birth of an Island: Megaflood severed Europe from Britain
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the spillover from an immense glacial lake carved a chasm that in a matter of weeks separated what is now Britain from continental Europe.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
AIDS Abated: Genome scans illuminate immune control of HIV
Three genetic variations picked out by powerful whole-genome scans help explain why some people develop AIDS quickly while others keep it at bay.
By Brian Vastag