News
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Nonstick chemicals upset behavior
A study in mice finds that early-life exposure to the fluorinated chemicals used in nonstick products can rewire the brain in ways that dramatically affect behavior.
By Janet Raloff -
ChemistryDrinking increases skin’s permeability
Drinking alcohol can greatly compromise the skin's barrier to chemicals.
By Janet Raloff -
EarthLeaden streets
Street grit is the probable source of lead in urban homes, and flaking paint from overpasses and bridges is a major contributor.
By Janet Raloff -
Health & MedicineMoldy whiff kills brain cells
A common black mold that blooms on moist cellulose-based materials produces a toxin that can kill certain brain cells.
By Janet Raloff -
ChemistryBusted bonds
The tenacious bonds between two carbon atoms can be broken in a surprisingly simple process.
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AnthropologyCapuchins resist inbreeding chances
Wild capuchin monkeys manage to avoid inbreeding, despite rampant opportunities for high-status fathers to mate with their grown daughters.
By Bruce Bower -
AstronomyGlassy galaxies
Astronomers have found clouds of sand crystals resembling crushed glass around 21 infrared-bright galaxies.
By Ron Cowen -
AnimalsWoodpecker video is challenged and defended
The video released last spring as evidence that the ivory-billed woodpecker exists may show a common pileated woodpecker, some critics say.
By Susan Milius -
HumansScience’s New Guard: Winners of annual competition get honors and hefty scholarships
For her water-quality research project, an 18-year-old from Utah earned top honors among 40 competitors in the final phase of the annual Intel Science Talent Search.
By Ben Harder -
Materials ScienceThe art of the fold
With DNA origami, researchers can make complex nanostructures.
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AnimalsCan You Hear Me Now? Frogs in roaring streams use ultrasonic calls
A small frog living beside Chinese hot springs may be the first amphibian known to use ultrasound in its calls.
By Susan Milius -
Grown-Up Connections: Mice, monkeys remake brain links as adults
Two new studies offer a glimpse of extensive remodeling of nerve connections in the brain's outer layer, or cortex, during adulthood in mice and monkeys.
By Bruce Bower