News
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Health & MedicineSerotonin lower in shift workers
Workers who rotate between day and night shifts have less of the brain chemical serotonin than day shift workers do.
By Brian Vastag -
EarthBeware summer radon-test results
Measuring household radon levels in summer may give misleadingly low results.
By Janet Raloff -
AstronomyVeiled black holes
Many X ray sources in the sky could be active galactic nuclei smothered by gas and dust that blocks their emission of visible and ultraviolet light.
By Ron Cowen -
Materials SciencePliable carbon
The layers of carbon atoms that form graphite can be assembled into strong but flexible "graphene paper."
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Health & MedicineCT heart scans: Risk climbs as age at screening falls
CT scans are increasingly used to investigate heart blockages, but their X rays can increase cancer risk.
By Janet Raloff -
AnimalsGender bender
Disabling a chemical-sniffing organ crucial for courting behavior makes girl mice act like frisky boys.
By Brian Vastag -
EarthCholesterol boosts diesel toxicity
Nanoparticles in diesel exhaust can activate genes that worsen cholesterol's damaging effects.
By Janet Raloff -
Planetary ScienceDeep Impact and Stardust: Still on assignment
Two sturdy NASA spacecraft have new assignments, studying comets and looking for exoplanets.
By Ron Cowen -
Health & MedicineNew Clues: Gene variations may contribute to MS risk
Variants of two genes encoding immune system proteins may confer a higher risk for multiple sclerosis.
By Nathan Seppa -
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ChemistrySoot Sense: Test tallies exposure to diesel pollution
A chemical in urine reveals a person's exposure to diesel exhaust.
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Fatherless Stem Cells: Scientific fraud involved an accidental advance
Stem cells that discredited researcher Woo Suk Hwang claimed as the first example of human cloning actually came from embryos that contained only the mother's genetic material.