News
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Health & MedicineWeight-Loss Costs: A critical look at gastric surgery
Obese people who opt for weight-loss surgery incur increased odds of subsequent hospitalization and, in some groups, a substantial risk of death.
By Ben Harder -
Macho Makeover: Fish rapidly ascend social ladder
Some male fish can upgrade their social status, and their appearance, in a matter of minutes.
By Katie Greene -
TechBionic Bacteria: Gold nanoparticles make gadgets of living microbes
Researchers have created an electromechanical device out of living microbes.
By Peter Weiss -
Do No Harm: Stem cells created without destroying healthy embryos
Scientists have devised ways to isolate embryonic stem cells from mice without destroying viable embryos.
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Exposure to seawater proves deadly
Vibrio bacteria, carried in seawater, have caused a spate of infections in people along the U.S. Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineIraq war casualties often complicated
Hundreds of injured soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan harbor an unusual bacterium that complicates wound healing.
By Nathan Seppa -
Illness linked to microbe in group that makes vinegar
Researchers have identified a new bacterium in a severely ill patient.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineStrep vaccine stirs antibody production
An experimental vaccine against the microbe that causes strep throat can induce a potent immune response in adults.
By Nathan Seppa -
Health & MedicineEating disorders may have autoimmune roots
Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa may be autoimmune diseases, according to a new study.
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Materials ScienceExplosive tempers
Researchers have demonstrated that carbon nanotubes, once ignited, can detonate explosives.
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AnimalsProxy Vampire: Spider eats blood by catching mosquitoes
Researchers studying food preferences among spiders report finding the first one with a taste for vertebrate blood.
By Susan Milius -
High Times for Brain Growth: Marijuana-like drug multiplies neurons
A drug that functions as concentrated marijuana does may spur the process by which the brain gives birth to new nerve cells.