News
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Animals
Built for Blurs: Jellyfish have great eyes that can’t focus
Eight of a box jellyfish's eyes have superb lenses, but their structure prevents them from focusing sharply.
By Susan Milius -
Health & Medicine
Proteins’ Promise: New test could reveal early ovarian cancer
A screening test for ovarian cancer shows promise in preliminary trials.
By Nathan Seppa -
Physics
Galactic data shore up a constant
Alpha, a constant of nature found to vary in some astrophysical studies, actually holds steady, according to the first survey of galaxies used to evaluate alpha's constancy.
By Peter Weiss -
Physics
Scales tilt against five-quark particles
Studies that fail to find purported five-quark particles, or pentaquarks, are stacking up quicker than studies that claim to have found such particles, suggesting that they might not really exist.
By Peter Weiss -
Physics
Test puts pedal to heavy metal
Stellar explosions forge heavy elements such as gold more quickly than scientists had predicted, as indicated by the first measurement of the half-life of a rare form of nickel that's a key link in the chain of element formation.
By Peter Weiss -
Chemistry
Crystal clear
Growing drug crystals on different polymer surfaces could improve a critical step in the development of pharmaceuticals.
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Earth
Air pollution linked to wheat diseases
The abundance of the air pollutant sulfur dioxide appears to influence which of two fungal pathogens plague more wheat plants.
By Ben Harder -
Health & Medicine
Waking up that lazy eye
Wearing an eye patch can improve vision in children with amblyopia, or lazy eye, up to age 17.
By Nathan Seppa -
Archaeology
Ancient Mariners: Caves harbor view of early Egyptian sailors
Archaeologists working near the Red Sea have discovered remains of an Egyptian port that emerged around 4,000 years ago, including two caves used by mariners for storage and for religious ceremonies.
By Bruce Bower -
Health & Medicine
Microwavable Cancers: Heat plus radiation shrinks some tumors
Heat along with radiation treatment shrinks some tumors faster than does radiation alone.
By Nathan Seppa -
Earth
Mind the Gap: Inadequate monitoring at many U.S. volcanoes
A report just released by the U.S. Geological Survey ranks the threats posed by the nation's volcanoes.
By Sid Perkins -
Earth
Nanowaste: Predicting the environmental fate of buckyballs
The potentially harmful effects of buckyballs in aquatic environments could vary depending on the chemistry of the water.