News
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Transplant reroutes cells from sperm to eggs
Fish cells destined to become sperm can become eggs when transplanted into larvae.
- Earth
Finding dirty diesels
Just a few diesel-fueled vehicles account for much of traffic-related soot.
By Janet Raloff - Tech
New View: Speedy microscope takes fuller look at the nanoworld
Action movies of molecules and a better feel for microscopic surfaces could flow from a radically revised version of the atomic-force microscope.
By Peter Weiss - Health & Medicine
Looking Ahead: Tests might predict Alzheimer’s risk
Two tests show promise in detecting Alzheimer's disease or other cognitive impairment years before symptoms arise.
By Nathan Seppa -
Model for Madness: Engineered mice have schizophrenia-like symptoms
Scientists have genetically altered mice so that they mimic the deficits in short-term memory and attention of schizophrenic patients.
- Animals
Killer Flatworm: New species hunts with puffer fish toxin
A newly described marine flatworm from Guam hunts with the same toxin that a puffer fish uses. With video.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Not So Sweet: Cancers in rats that consumed aspartame
A large, new study in rats suggests that the artificial sweetener aspartame may be a carcinogen, but critics question the finding's validity.
By Ben Harder - Astronomy
Radio Daze: Staccato pulses suggest a new stellar class
Astronomers have discovered what may be a new class of star that emits bursts of radio waves for 2 to 30 milliseconds before falling silent for minutes to hours.
By Ron Cowen -
In Sickness and in Death: Spouses’ ills imperil partners’ survival
Among elderly people, a spouse's hospitalization for certain ailments substantially raises his or her partner's likelihood of dying.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Alzheimer’s drug shows staying power
The drug memantine slowed mental decline in people with moderate-to-advanced Alzheimer's disease in a 12-month trial, the longest test of the drug to date.
By Nathan Seppa - Earth
Krakatoa stifled sea level rise for decades
Ocean cooling caused by the volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 kept sea level worldwide in check well into the 20th century.
By Sid Perkins - Planetary Science
Stellar passage yields Charon’s girth
By observing Pluto's moon Charon passing in front of a star, astronomers have obtained precise measurements of the moon's radius and density.
By Ron Cowen