News
- Astronomy
Rocky Finding: Evidence of extrasolar asteroid belt
Astronomers have obtained some of the best evidence yet for an asteroid belt beyond the solar system.
- Health & Medicine
Better Blood: New tool removes agent of brain disease
Scientists have developed a device that filters from blood the mutant proteins that cause the human form of mad cow disease, an advance that may hold promise for increasing the safety of donated blood.
- Paleontology
Paleotrickery: A lengthy lineage for leaf-mimicking insects
Species in one group of insects have escaped the hungry eye of predators by looking like foliage and moving like swaying leaves for at least 47 million years, a new fossil find suggests.
- Tech
Loopy Light: Rings that delay photons may advance microchips
Chains of tiny, high-precision, light-conducting loops of silicon may open the door to using optical circuits to carry enormous data flows within computer chips.
- Health & Medicine
Bad to the Bone: Acid stoppers appear to have a downside
Popular acid-reducing drugs called proton-pump inhibitors may increase the risk of hip fractures in people over 50.
- Humans
When budgeting for quakes, dig deep
If earthquakes that struck the United States since 1900 are any guide, the nation can expect to suffer seismic damages of about $2.5 billion dollars each year in the future.
- Earth
Scraping the bottom
A survey of deep waters in western Lake Superior has revealed the tracks left by massive icebergs scraping bottom there during the last ice age.
- Earth
Glaciers give major boost to sea level
The ongoing disappearance of glaciers and other small ice masses worldwide makes a larger contribution to sea level rise than the melting of ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica does.
- Earth
Dating a massive undersea slide
Pieces of moss buried in debris left along the Norwegian coast by an ancient tsunami have enabled geologists to better determine the date of the immense underwater landslide that triggered the inundation.
- Humans
Longer work hours may warm climate
U.S. workers put in more hours than most other workers around the world, and one consequence is dramatically higher energy and environmental costs per employee.
- Chemistry
For sweat’s sake
Soldiers and emergency crews may one day find comfort as well as safety in their chemical-protection gear, now that researchers have created a breathable, chemical-blocking composite material.
- Tech
Ahead of the Curve: Novel morphing wing may reduce aircraft’s fuel use
A prototype aircraft wing has demonstrated in its first flight tests that its morphing might save fuel.
