News
- Anthropology
Chimpanzee Stone Age: Finds in Africa rock prehistory of tools
Researchers have uncovered evidence of a chimpanzee stone age that started at least 4,300 years ago in West Africa.
- Planetary Science
Titan’s organic cloud
The Cassini spacecraft has imaged a huge cloud that engulfs most of the north pole of Saturn's icy moon Titan and could be a source of the moon's hydrocarbon lakes.
- Health & Medicine
Small tweaks prevent 1918-flu transmission
Just a couple of small genetic changes in a pandemic flu virus prevented it from passing efficiently between lab animals.
- Health & Medicine
Orexin-blocking pill speeds sleep onset
A new compound that inhibits the activity of the alertness-promoting brain peptide orexin shows promise as a potential sleeping pill.
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Terrorism sparks heartfelt aftermath
Although terror-attack survivors often rebound emotionally, their bodies stay on heightened alert long after such traumas, according to tests of witnesses to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
- Astronomy
Tiny shutters for new observatory
A recently developed device, known as a microshutter, will allow the proposed James Webb Space Telescope to simultaneously record the spectra of light from 100 galaxies.
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Two dimensions of mind perception
A new survey indicates that people discern the presence or absence of a mental life in others by assessing two general dimensions of thought.
- Humans
More of the Same: 2008’s science budget mirrors 2007’s
President Bush's proposed science budget for fiscal year 2008 closely reflects last year's recommended budget.
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Online Victims: Internet behaviors make targets of some kids
A national telephone survey indicates that one in five kids, ages 10 to 17, encountered instances of unwanted sexual solicitation or harassment online in the past year.
- Tech
Transferred Touch: Sensory rewiring to improve prosthetics
Transferring a lost limb's nerves to other areas of the body might one day permit an amputee to feel the heat of a coffee cup with an artificial hand.
- Health & Medicine
Ingredient Shuffle: A trans fat substitute might have risks too
A controversial trial of a chemically modified fat called an interesterified fat suggests that it is more harmful than is a trans fat–rich, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.
- Earth
Why So Dry? Ocean temperatures alone don’t explain droughts
Evidence from ancient dunes points to three periods of prolonged drought in the U.S. Great Plains, but finding their causes may be more complex than previously supposed.
