News
- Health & Medicine
Good news for people with clotting disorder
Several experimental drugs show promise against the bleeding disorder known as immune thrombocytopenic purpura.
By Nathan Seppa - Tech
A backpack with a suspension system
A new backpack design that uses elastic cords to minimize the pack's vertical motion could lessen bodily strain on wearers and reduce the effort required to carry a load.
By Ben Harder - Earth
Yes, it’s asbestos
Federal mineralogists have corroborated earlier evidence that Sierra-foothills communities around Sacramento, Calif., are built atop soils naturally laced with asbestos.
By Janet Raloff - Animals
Guys Roll Eyes: Fish show some eyeball to their rivals
During breeding season, male fish roll their eyes to send a quick "Back off, punk" signal to other males, researchers say.
By Susan Milius -
Message Songs: Wild gibbons warble with a simple syntax
Gibbons, a line of apes in southeastern Asia, rearrange their songs in order to communicate with one another.
By Bruce Bower - Astronomy
Rocky Finding: Evidence of extrasolar asteroid belt
Astronomers have obtained some of the best evidence yet for an asteroid belt beyond the solar system.
By Ron Cowen - Health & Medicine
Better Blood: New tool removes agent of brain disease
Scientists have developed a device that filters from blood the mutant proteins that cause the human form of mad cow disease, an advance that may hold promise for increasing the safety of donated blood.
- Paleontology
Paleotrickery: A lengthy lineage for leaf-mimicking insects
Species in one group of insects have escaped the hungry eye of predators by looking like foliage and moving like swaying leaves for at least 47 million years, a new fossil find suggests.
By Sid Perkins - Tech
Loopy Light: Rings that delay photons may advance microchips
Chains of tiny, high-precision, light-conducting loops of silicon may open the door to using optical circuits to carry enormous data flows within computer chips.
By Peter Weiss - Health & Medicine
Bad to the Bone: Acid stoppers appear to have a downside
Popular acid-reducing drugs called proton-pump inhibitors may increase the risk of hip fractures in people over 50.
By Nathan Seppa - Humans
When budgeting for quakes, dig deep
If earthquakes that struck the United States since 1900 are any guide, the nation can expect to suffer seismic damages of about $2.5 billion dollars each year in the future.
By Sid Perkins - Earth
Scraping the bottom
A survey of deep waters in western Lake Superior has revealed the tracks left by massive icebergs scraping bottom there during the last ice age.
By Sid Perkins