News
- Anthropology
New age for ancient Americans
New radiocarbon dates indicate that the Clovis people, long considered the first well-documented settlers of the New World, inhabited North America considerably later and for a much shorter time than previously thought.
- Chemistry
Lighting up for uranium
A portable sensor could make it possible to rapidly detect environmental uranium contamination.
- Ecosystems
Warming Sign? Larger dead zones form off Oregon coast
Unprecedented recent changes in the yearly pattern of ocean currents off North America's West Coast have wreaked havoc on aquatic ecosystems there, another possible symptom of Earth's warming climate.
-
Decoding Autism: Study finds DNA clues to developmental disorders
New results direct the search for autism-influencing genes to a previously overlooked DNA segment and highlight the role of a crucial chemical-messenger system in creating brains susceptible to autism.
- Animals
Bird Plans: Jays show foresight in breakfast menus
The strongest evidence yet that animals plan ahead may come from western scrub jays preparing for their morning meals.
- Health & Medicine
Virus Stopper: Herpes drug dampens HIV infection
An antiviral drug commonly taken for genital herpes seems to suppress HIV in people harboring both pathogens.
- Health & Medicine
Hurt-Knees Rx: Surgical method promotes ligament regeneration
A new artificial knee ligament that sparks regeneration of natural tissue could eventually make recovering from knee-repair surgery less painful and debilitating.
-
Weight Matters: Big and little mouse pups become obese adults
Being either overnourished or undernourished before birth can alter gene activity, leading to obesity during adulthood.
- Astronomy
Alien Light: Taking the spectra of extrasolar planets
Astronomers have for the first time recorded the spectra of light emitted by two extrasolar planets.
- Health & Medicine
Inside job dissolves blood clot pronto
An experimental procedure that delivers a clot-busting drug directly to the brain can bring on a remarkable turnaround in some stroke patients.
- Health & Medicine
Aspirin resistance carries real risks
Some people are resistant to the blood-thinning effects of aspirin, making them more vulnerable to stroke or heart problems.
- Health & Medicine
Aneurysm risk may get passed down
A heightened risk of having a brain aneurysm seems to be passed down in some families, and the life-threatening rupture of an aneurysm appears to strike earlier in a succeeding generation.
