News
- Earth
Species-aid budget looks fishy
State and federal governments spent $1.4 billion in 2004 on conserving endangered and threatened species, with one-third of that sum going to protect fish.
- Health & Medicine
Study upgrades protons’ risk to DNA
Proton radiation causes worse breaks in DNA than researchers had expected.
- Chemistry
Membrane purifies gas
Researchers have synthesized a membrane that may purify hydrogen more efficiently than conventional chemical methods do.
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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.
- 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.
- 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.
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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.
- 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.
- 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.
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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.
