News
- Health & Medicine
More Than an Annoyance: Breathlessness could be sign of bigger problems
People who have dyspnea, the sensation of being frequently out of breath, may have an increased risk of dying from heart problems.
By Nathan Seppa - Planetary Science
New Partners: Hubble finds more moons around Pluto
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have spied two tiny moons orbiting Pluto, giving this planet a total of three satellites.
By Ron Cowen -
Dopamine gene ups schizophrenia risk
A long-term study of children with a rare chromosome deletion indicates that those who have a single copy of a gene that promotes a dopamine overload in the brain have an above-average risk of developing schizophrenia later in life.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Breath test could detect bad microbe
Using machines that identify component parts of gases, scientists can now detect markers of a dangerous fungal infection in the lungs of people just by analyzing their breath.
By Nathan Seppa - Anthropology
Chimps indifferent to others’ welfare
New laboratory experiments suggest that chimpanzees, unlike people, don't care about the welfare of unrelated members of their social groups.
By Bruce Bower - Physics
A matter of gravity
Gravity Probe B has finished its test of general relativity but results of the study won't be known for another year.
By Ron Cowen -
Read My Gestures: Body language can trump facial expressions
Body language can influence the perception of emotion on a person's face.
By Katie Greene -
Left Out by a Stroke: Right-brain injury may upset attention balance
People who suddenly ignore everything to their left after suffering a right-brain stroke display disturbed activity in uninjured parts of a widespread neural network associated with attention.
By Bruce Bower -
SNPs Ahoy! Scientists complete map of genetic differences
A new map that delineates small genetic differences among people may be a powerful tool for figuring out why some individuals get certain diseases and how to customize their treatments.
- Tech
Muck Tech: Natural enzyme displaces precious metal in fuel cell
A prototype fuel cell uses an enzyme from a soil microbe to generate electricity from hydrogen rather than from rare and expensive metal catalysts such as platinum.
By Peter Weiss - Earth
Breaking Waves: Mangroves shielded parts of coast from tsunami
Along a strip of India's southeastern coastline, trees protected certain villages from last December's tsunami, while waves wiped out neighboring settlements that weren't sheltered by vegetation.
By Ben Harder - Paleontology
Caribbean Extinctions: Climate change probably wasn’t the culprit
Remains of extinct sloths unearthed in Cuba and Haiti indicate that the creatures persisted in Caribbean enclaves until about 4,200 years ago, a finding that almost absolves climate change following the last ice age as a cause for the die-offs.
By Sid Perkins