News
- Plants
City life changes style of weed seeds
City living pushes for rapid evolution in the seed strategy of a little yellow flower along French sidewalks.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
New technique brings Parkinson’s treatment closer
An efficient technique to make dopamine-producing nerve cells from human embryonic stem cells could mark a step toward devising therapies for Parkinson's disease.
- Health & Medicine
Exercises counteract lazy eye
Amblyopia, or lazy eye, can be reversed in adults with visual task exercises.
By Nathan Seppa -
Pick a photo, any photo
An fMRI scan of the brain can tell what photograph a subject is looking at.
- Materials Science
Cellulose that stiffens and softens
A material inspired by sea cucumbers morphs from rigid to soft.
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Altruistic twist in market economies
Democratic societies with market economies promote a moral ethic of cooperating with strangers who demand mutual sacrifices in joint ventures.
By Bruce Bower - Physics
Too speedy for gravity?
A new analysis suggests that five different spacecraft gained more speed as they flew past Earth than can be accounted for by Einstein's theory of gravitation.
By Ron Cowen - Astronomy
Supernova Outbreak: X rays signal earliest alert
Thanks to a lucky break and an overactive galaxy, astronomers report the earliest detection yet of a normal supernova—the explosive death of a massive star.
By Ron Cowen - Earth
Ocean ups and downs—the long view
Sea level has dropped about 170 meters in the past 80 million years, thanks in part to the thinning of ocean crust and the formation of land-based ice sheets.
By Sid Perkins - Health & Medicine
A Way Forward: Releasing the brakes on cancer vaccines
A new way to overcome tumors' defenses against the immune system marks an important step toward effective cancer vaccines.
- Astronomy
Web Special: Supernova Outbreak—X rays signal earliest alert
MARCH 5 — Thanks to a lucky break and an overactive galaxy, astronomers report the earliest detection yet of a normal supernova—the explosive death of a massive star. Advance article from March 8 issue.
By Ron Cowen - Plants
Promiscuous orchids
When pollinators aren't loyal to a single species of orchid, the plants maintain their species integrity by stymieing reproduction.