News
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Trichomoniasis-causing organism is sequenced
Scientists have taken a first read of the genetic sequence of the organism responsible for a sexually transmitted infection called trichomoniasis.
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Starved for Assistance: Coercion finds a place in the treatment of two eating disorders
Attempts by family, friends, and others to coerce people with serious eating disorders into getting mental-health care provide a valuable jump-start to treatment.
- Paleontology
Going Under Down Under: Early people at fault in Australian extinctions
A lengthy, newly compiled fossil record of Australian mammals bolsters the notion that humanity's arrival on the island continent led to the extinction of many large creatures there.
- Ecosystems
Saving Whales the Easy Way? Less lobstering could mean fewer deaths
A provocative proposal suggests that the U.S. lobster fleet in the Gulf of Maine could reduce the number of traps, maintain its profits, and improve life for endangered right whales.
- Health & Medicine
Coming to a Bad End: Lost chromosome tips linked to heart problems
Men with short telomeres, the ends of chromosomes, are twice as likely to develop heart disease as are men with longer telomeres.
- Chemistry
Fish Killer Caught? Ephemeral Pfiesteria compound surfaces
Scientists claim to have found an elusive algal toxin implicated in massive fish kills along the Mid-Atlantic coast in the 1990s.
- Astronomy
A Cosmic Pas de Trois: Triple-quasar system may signal galaxy mergers
Astronomers have discovered the first example of a trio of quasars, the brilliant beacons of light that seem to be fueled by supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies.
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Golden Eggs: Engineered hens lay drugs
Researchers have genetically engineered hens that can not only produce useful drugs in their eggs but also reliably pass on this characteristic to new generations of chickens.
- Health & Medicine
Gene variant shapes beta-blocker’s effectiveness
A medication widely used for heart failure may be most effective in people who have a common variant of a particular gene.
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Salmonella illnesses traced to pet rodents
Hamsters and other pet rodents are probably underappreciated spreaders of salmonella bacteria.
- Earth
2006: Hottest year in U.S. history
Preliminary analyses of weather data gathered from more than 1,200 sites across the continental United States indicate that last year was the warmest on record.
- Paleontology
Of penguins’ range and climate change
Variations in the range of Adélie penguins along one section of Antarctica's coast during the past 45,000 years are a keen indicator of climate change there.
