News
- Astronomy
On the Trail of Dead Planets: Dust ring around a white dwarf
Infrared observations have depicted the dusty vestiges of a planetary system dancing around a dead star.
- Health & Medicine
Clear the Way: Stenting opens jammed arteries in the brain
Using a tiny mesh cylinder called a stent, doctors can prop open narrowed arteries in the brain much as they do in the heart.
- Anthropology
Chimpanzee Stone Age: Finds in Africa rock prehistory of tools
Researchers have uncovered evidence of a chimpanzee stone age that started at least 4,300 years ago in West Africa.
- Planetary Science
Titan’s organic cloud
The Cassini spacecraft has imaged a huge cloud that engulfs most of the north pole of Saturn's icy moon Titan and could be a source of the moon's hydrocarbon lakes.
- Health & Medicine
Small tweaks prevent 1918-flu transmission
Just a couple of small genetic changes in a pandemic flu virus prevented it from passing efficiently between lab animals.
- Health & Medicine
Orexin-blocking pill speeds sleep onset
A new compound that inhibits the activity of the alertness-promoting brain peptide orexin shows promise as a potential sleeping pill.
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Terrorism sparks heartfelt aftermath
Although terror-attack survivors often rebound emotionally, their bodies stay on heightened alert long after such traumas, according to tests of witnesses to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
- Astronomy
Tiny shutters for new observatory
A recently developed device, known as a microshutter, will allow the proposed James Webb Space Telescope to simultaneously record the spectra of light from 100 galaxies.
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Two dimensions of mind perception
A new survey indicates that people discern the presence or absence of a mental life in others by assessing two general dimensions of thought.
- Humans
More of the Same: 2008’s science budget mirrors 2007’s
President Bush's proposed science budget for fiscal year 2008 closely reflects last year's recommended budget.
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Online Victims: Internet behaviors make targets of some kids
A national telephone survey indicates that one in five kids, ages 10 to 17, encountered instances of unwanted sexual solicitation or harassment online in the past year.
- Tech
Transferred Touch: Sensory rewiring to improve prosthetics
Transferring a lost limb's nerves to other areas of the body might one day permit an amputee to feel the heat of a coffee cup with an artificial hand.
