News
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PaleontologyAncient Glider: Dinosaur took to the air in biplane style
About 125 million years before the Wright Brothers took to the air with their biplane, a 1-meter-long dinosaur may have been swooping from tree to tree using the same arrangement of wings.
By Sid Perkins -
AstronomyMagnificent McNaught
Flaunting a majestic tail over southern skies, Comet McNaught became in mid-January the brightest comet in more than 40 years.
By Ron Cowen -
Health & MedicineSalve for the Lungs: Aspirin might prevent asthma
Regular use of aspirin may prevent healthy adults from developing asthma.
By Ben Harder -
Mind over Muscle: Placebo boosts health benefits of exercise
The physical rewards of exercise derive not just from muscular exertion but also from a person's mind-set about exercise.
By Bruce Bower -
TechMaking a 3-D Microscope: Technique brings entire sample into focus
A new imaging technique creates microscopic three-dimensional views of tissues within a patient's body and can update those images several times a second.
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Addiction Subtraction: Brain damage curbs cigarette urge
Scientists have identified an area of the brain where damage seems to quickly halt a person's desire to smoke.
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Planetary ScienceStellar death may spawn solar system
Material shed by a dying star might give birth to planets.
By Ron Cowen -
AstronomyAstronomers discover smallest galaxy ever
Astronomers have found the smallest galaxy yet recorded, about one-sixteenth the diameter of the Milky Way.
By Ron Cowen -
PhysicsSolving a 400-year-old supernova riddle
Astronomers have determined that Kepler's supernova, the last stellar explosion witnessed in our galaxy, belongs to the class known as type 1a.
By Ron Cowen -
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EarthHeating releases cookware chemicals
Nonstick coatings on fry pans and microwave-popcorn bags can, when heated, release traces of potentially toxic perfluorinated chemicals.
By Janet Raloff -
Aging vets take stress disorder to heart
Veterans grappling for decades with post-traumatic stress disorder have a greater risk of developing and dying from heart disease than do their peers who don't suffer from the stress ailment.
By Bruce Bower