News
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Earth
Manganese can make water toxic
Drinking water contaminated with manganese can subtly limit a child's intellectual development.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & Medicine
Rotavirus vaccines pass big safety tests
The largest industry-funded medical trials in history have found that two new vaccines are both safe and effective against life-threatening childhood diarrhea caused by rotavirus.
By Ben Harder -
Health & Medicine
Tumor’s border cells told to leave
Cells on a tumor's outer layer that touch healthy tissue receive a chemical signal that sends them wandering away.
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Earth
Warming climate will slow ocean circulation
Later this century, rising concentrations of greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere could slow the ocean currents that bring warm waters to the North Atlantic.
By Sid Perkins -
Animals
New candidates for smallest vertebrate
Two recent scientific papers have described fish species that could, depending on the definition, be the world's smallest known vertebrate.
By Susan Milius -
Health & Medicine
Diabetes most often begins in March
A person's likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes varies seasonally and is about 50 percent higher in March than in August.
By Ben Harder -
Humans
Young Scientists Get Results: Science, math, and engineering competition selects 40 talented finalists
Forty high school students have each earned a spot as a finalist in the 65th annual Intel Science Talent Search.
By Ben Harder -
Health & Medicine
Double Dose: Two ways to boost kidney-transplant viability
By evaluating kidneys obtained for transplant from older people—then culling the worn-out organs—scientists can identify kidneys likely to last longer in their new hosts, especially when implanted in pairs.
By Nathan Seppa -
Animals
Eggs Scramble: Fungi trick termites into babysitting
A fungus may be taking advantage of hardworking termite nursemaids by tricking them into tending egg-shaped fungal reproductive bodies along with real termite eggs.
By Susan Milius -
Hunter Beware: Infectious proteins found in deer muscle
Infectious agents that cause a mad cow–like infection in deer and elk are present in infected animals' muscles.
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Earth
Charting the Past: Surveys map two lost harbors of Phoenicia
By analyzing long tubes of sediment drilled from locations in and around the Mediterranean ports of Tyre and Sidon, scientists have rediscovered the harbors from which legions of ancient Phoenician mariners set sail.
By Sid Perkins -
Materials Science
Mother-of-Pearl on Ice: New ceramics might serve in bones and machines
Ceramics made by freezing water in an unusual way mimic not only the complicated microstructure of mother-of-pearl but also its extraordinary strength and toughness.
By Peter Weiss