Uncategorized
- Earth
Arctic ice more vulnerable than ever
Ocean’s ice cap is smaller than long-term average and thinnest yet as melt season begins.
- Chemistry
Bubbles turn on chemical catalysts
Mechanical force could help chemical compounds spur reactions when the time is right.
- Animals
Chimps ambidextrous when digging wells
A survey of water-collection holes dug on the banks of an African river by wild chimpanzees indicates that, unlike people, these apes don’t have a preference for using either the right or left hand on manual tasks.
- Anthropology
Hobbit brain small, but organized for complex intelligence
Evolution may have endowed a controversial species with small but humanlike brains equipped to support advanced thinking
- Health & Medicine
Sleep may clear the decks for next day’s learning
Two separate studies suggest that sleep reduces connections between neurons in fruit flies’ brains.
- Materials Science
Viruses could power devices
Viruses — the biological kind — could be used to construct more efficient, environmentally friendly lithium ion batteries
- Life
Cells renew in the human heart
Carbon 14 from Cold War–era nuclear bomb tests allowed researchers to track cell birth.
- Chemistry
Prions are common, at least in yeast
A new study of shape-shifting proteins in baker’s yeast reveals that prions are common and may help organisms survive in changing conditions.
- Health & Medicine
HPV screen beats Pap smear
A test for human papillomavirus outperforms the standard Pap smear in catching precancerous cervical lesions, a study of women age 30 and over shows.
- Space
Heavyweight galaxies in the young universe
New observations of full-grown galaxies in the young universe may force astrophysicists to revise their leading theory of galaxy formation, at least as it applies to regions where galaxies congregate into clusters.
- Physics
Spin control for technology
Long-lived helix offers a new way to keep electron spin stable and in sync
- Space
Planet hidden in Hubble archives
A new way to process images reveals an extrasolar planet that had been hiding in an 11-year-old Hubble picture.
