News

  1. Chemistry

    Compounds pass the smell test

    A vile-smelling but versatile class of compounds may find a role in more chemistry laboratories with the introduction of easily made, inoffensive versions. Isonitriles, chemicals characterized by a triple bond between a carbon and a nitrogen atom, are useful in many reactions. But many chemists have shunned them because of their pungency, says Michael C. […]

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  2. Humans

    Women: Where are your patents?

    Business-school researchers find a big gender gap among academic life scientists in patenting rates.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Forewarning of preeclampsia

    Scientists have found an early warning sign of preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication marked by high blood pressure. Pregnant women with too much of a protein called soluble endoglin in their blood have a heightened risk of preeclampsia, the researchers say. Endoglin normally sits on the surface of blood vessels, where it plays a role in […]

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  4. Chemistry

    Better protection

    A new molecular catalyst shortens a widely used reaction into a one-step process, with a bonus: It makes the reaction’s products into one of two possible mirror-image forms. When chemists synthesize compounds, they often add a protective group of atoms to a specific site on a molecule to prevent that site from reacting in subsequent […]

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  5. Earth

    Magma heats up as it crystallizes

    Molten rock moving through a volcano's plumbing prior to an eruption can sometimes heat up substantially as it approaches Earth's surface.

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  6. Planetary Science

    Rare Uranian eclipse

    The Hubble Space Telescope has for the first time recorded an eclipse on Uranus.

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  7. Earth

    Plowing Down the Amazon: Satellites reveal conversion of forest to farmland

    The clearing of jungle to create cropland is a major and previously underappreciated force behind deforestation in the Amazon region of Brazil, according to an analysis of satellite images.

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  8. Animals

    Hey, Roach Babe: Male cockroaches give fancy courting whistles

    Some male cockroaches whistle at females with surprisingly complex, almost birdlike whistles.

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  9. Ecosystems

    On the Rise: Siberian lakes—Major sources of methane

    Field studies suggest that Siberian lakes are a much larger source of atmospheric methane than had been previously recognized.

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  10. Tech

    Size Matters: Biosensors behave oddly when very small

    There might be a limit to how small physicists should build tiny sensors that detect viruses and molecules.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Problem Paternity: Older men seem more apt to have autistic kids

    Children born to fathers who are age 40 or older have an increased risk of developing autism.

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  12. Earth

    Genes as Pollutants: Tracking drug-resistant DNA in the environment

    A study that traces antibiotic-resistance genes in the environment indicates that they are present even in treated drinking water.

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