News
- 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. […]
- Humans
Women: Where are your patents?
Business-school researchers find a big gender gap among academic life scientists in patenting rates.
- 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 […]
- 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 […]
- 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.
- Planetary Science
Rare Uranian eclipse
The Hubble Space Telescope has for the first time recorded an eclipse on Uranus.
- 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.
- Animals
Hey, Roach Babe: Male cockroaches give fancy courting whistles
Some male cockroaches whistle at females with surprisingly complex, almost birdlike whistles.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
