News
- Earth
Sonic Sands: Uncovering the secret of the booming dunes
The age-old mystery of sand dunes that produce loud, thrumming noises is explained by a new theory that involves a resonant layer of dry sand.
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Role Change: Mast cells show an anti-inflammatory side
Cells that cause inflammation in allergic skin reactions to poison ivy also produce a protein that subdues the reaction a few days later.
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Live Wires: Axons can influence nerve impulses
Axons are not simply passive carriers of electrical signals in the brain, but influence how neurons fire.
- Astronomy
Killer Collision: Dino demise traces to asteroid-family breakup
The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was a wayward fragment from a violent collision in the asteroid belt.
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The Venter Decryption: Biologist decodes his own genome
For the first time, one man's genome, including both sets of chromosomes, has been decoded.
- Animals
Hive Scourge? Virus linked to recent honeybee die-off
A poorly understood virus seems to have a connection to the recent widespread demise of honeybees.
- Health & Medicine
Bad Bug: Microbe raises stomach cancer risk
A gene in some strains of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori may greatly increase the risk of stomach cancer.
- Astronomy
Dawn of a Disk: Water vapor pours down on embryonic star
Infrared observations show water vapor pouring down on a planet-forming disk around a young star.
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No-Fight Zones: School programs reduce violence in all grades
A variety of school-based programs succeed in reducing students' violent and disruptive behavior.
- Earth
Oxygen Rocks: Volcanoes spurred early atmospheric change
Earth owes its oxygen-rich atmosphere to a change in volcanic activity about 2.5 billion years ago.
- Plants
Cretaceous Corsages? Fossil in amber suggests antiquity of orchids
Orchids appeared on the scene about 80 million years ago, according to evidence from a bee that collected orchid pollen and got trapped in amber.
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Barely Alive: Ancient bacteria survive in the slow lane
Microbes locked in 500,000-year-old permafrost appear to breathe and show other signs of very slow life.
