News
- Math
Big prize for unlikely research
A New York University mathematician has won one of the highest prizes in mathematics for figuring out the likelihood of unlikely events.
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How smart are amoebas?
Amoebas seem to possess a rudimentary form of memory that keeps them from walking around in circles.
- Plants
Old plants were lost in the grass
An obscure family of plants long thought to be relatives of grasses turns out to represent one of the most ancient surviving lineages of flowering plants.
- Health & Medicine
Working in a cotton mill has bright side
People who work amid bales of raw cotton are less likely to get lung cancer than are people in the general population, a study of Chinese women indicates. While past research has shown that workers in a cotton mill tend to develop shortness of breath, chronic cough, and other health problems, some scientists also noted […]
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Feeling Right from Wrong: Brain’s social emotions steer moral judgments
A new study of people who suffered damage to a brain area involved in social sentiments supports the notion that emotional, intuitive reactions typically guide decisions about moral dilemmas.
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Not So Wimpy: Antimalarial mosquito has an edge in tests
For the first time, mosquitoes engineered to resist malaria have shed their underbug image and outperformed regular mosquitoes in a lab test.
- Planetary Science
Solar-staring spacecraft shows its flare
A new image of the sun's chromosphere, a layer sandwiched between the sun's visible surface and its outer atmosphere, shows a surprisingly complex structure of filaments of roiling gas that promises to shed new light on why the sun erupts.
- Health & Medicine
Balancing Act: Excess steroids during pregnancy may pose risks for offspring
Heavy amounts of steroids taken during pregnancy can have long-term deleterious effects on offspring, a study of monkeys shows.
- Health & Medicine
Risky Flames: Firefighter coronaries spike during blazes
A disproportionate number of heart disease deaths among firefighters occur during blazes.
- Physics
Closer to Vanishing: Bending light as a step toward invisibility cloaks
Invisibility cloaks may be a long shot, but new optical tricks could help in the design of future computers.
- Chemistry
Waistline Worry: Common chemicals might boost obesity
A family of chemicals implicated in testosterone declines may also be contributing to recent spikes in obesity and diabetes.
- Earth
Young and Restless: Ancient Earth shows moving crust
The oldest rocks in the world show that Earth's shifting crust began its tectonic movements almost 4 billion years ago.
