News
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Mood Meds’ Second Wind: Depression drugs aided by extra treatment step
A second, modified course of drug treatment fosters recovery in a substantial minority of depressed adults who don't feel better after treatment with a commonly prescribed antidepressant.
By Bruce Bower - Earth
Tiny Bubbles: Oldest evidence yet for methane makers
Analyses of the gases dissolved in water trapped in ancient minerals suggest that methane-generating microbes have been around almost 3.5 billion years.
By Sid Perkins -
Nonstick chemicals upset behavior
A study in mice finds that early-life exposure to the fluorinated chemicals used in nonstick products can rewire the brain in ways that dramatically affect behavior.
By Janet Raloff - Chemistry
Drinking increases skin’s permeability
Drinking alcohol can greatly compromise the skin's barrier to chemicals.
By Janet Raloff - Earth
Leaden streets
Street grit is the probable source of lead in urban homes, and flaking paint from overpasses and bridges is a major contributor.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Moldy whiff kills brain cells
A common black mold that blooms on moist cellulose-based materials produces a toxin that can kill certain brain cells.
By Janet Raloff - Chemistry
Busted bonds
The tenacious bonds between two carbon atoms can be broken in a surprisingly simple process.
- Anthropology
Capuchins resist inbreeding chances
Wild capuchin monkeys manage to avoid inbreeding, despite rampant opportunities for high-status fathers to mate with their grown daughters.
By Bruce Bower - Astronomy
Glassy galaxies
Astronomers have found clouds of sand crystals resembling crushed glass around 21 infrared-bright galaxies.
By Ron Cowen - Animals
Woodpecker video is challenged and defended
The video released last spring as evidence that the ivory-billed woodpecker exists may show a common pileated woodpecker, some critics say.
By Susan Milius - Humans
Science’s New Guard: Winners of annual competition get honors and hefty scholarships
For her water-quality research project, an 18-year-old from Utah earned top honors among 40 competitors in the final phase of the annual Intel Science Talent Search.
By Ben Harder - Materials Science
The art of the fold
With DNA origami, researchers can make complex nanostructures.