News

  1. Tech

    Life Swap: Switching genomes converts bacteria

    Transplanting the entire genome of one species of bacteria into another paves the way for making synthetic microbes with manmade DNA.

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  2. Planetary Science

    Music to alien ears

    Saturn's moon Titan may be the best rock concert venue in the solar system, according to computer simulations of sound propagation on other worlds.

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  3. Physics

    Stradivari’s secrets

    Three-dimensional imaging of a classic violin's vibrations explains the instrument's superior ability to direct sound to the audience.

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  4. Chemistry

    A sweet way to replace petroleum?

    Thanks to a new chemical process, many products now manufactured from petroleum could one day be made from sugar molecules.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Nerves are key to longevity effect

    The life-extending effect that some animals get from calorie-restricted diets may depend on signals from the brain.

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  6. Earth

    Double-acting bacteria immobilize toxic nanoparticles

    Bacteria lurking in the bowels of an abandoned Wisconsin mine might help remove toxic metals from polluted water.

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  7. Animals

    West Nile virus hits bird populations

    West Nile virus has hammered populations of five common North American birds.

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  8. Planetary Science

    Eris dwarfs Pluto

    Ex-planet Pluto suffers another demotion, as observations show that it's much less massive than Eris, another distant denizen of the outer solar system.

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  9. Tech

    A computer in every cell

    Artificial genes inserted into cells make RNA molecules that can perform logical computations.

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  10. Animals

    Profiles in Courtship: Flirting male fish show their best sides

    Courting male guppies that sport a tad more orange on one side of their bodies than on the other tend to flash that brighter side at females.

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  11. Paleontology

    Jurassic CSI: Fossils indicate central nervous system damage

    Fossils found in the head-thrown-back position, the so-called "dead bird" pose, probably died from central nervous system damage.

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  12. Chemistry

    Beyond Ethanol: Synthetic fuel offers promising alternative

    A faster, simpler manufacturing technique could make a synthetic biofuel into an even stronger competitor to ethanol.

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