Uncategorized
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Humans
From the January 29, 1938, issue
A new telescope's home under construction, Eros makes a close pass, and history revealed in mosaic floors.
By Science News -
Be a Cognitive-Test Subject
You can become an online participant in tests of how the mind uses and processes words at this several-month-old site, administered by Harvard University’s Cognition and Language Laboratory (with collaborators at other institutions). Alternatively, you can just read the results from earlier experiments. They’re quick, fun, and sometimes embarrassingly challenging. Go to: http://coglanglab.org
By Science News -
Health & Medicine
Warning Sign: Genetic fragments tag cancer severity
High levels of the microRNA miR-21 lead to poor prognoses for colon cancer patients.
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Animals
The naming of the elephant-shrew
A new species of giant elephant-shrew, small bounding forest dwellers very distantly related to elephants, has been discovered in Tanzania. With video.
By Susan Milius -
Live Long and Perspire: Exercise may slow aging at chromosomal level
A new study finds that a sedentary lifestyle is linked to short telomeres on chromosomes, potentially a sign of rapid aging.
By Nathan Seppa -
Humans
. . . And the Envelope, Please: Forty outstanding young scientists move to final round of competition
Forty outstanding young scientists will travel to Washington, D.C., for the final round of the 2008 Intel Science Talent Search.
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Spice It Up: Naked mole-rats feel no pain from peppers, acid
The African naked mole-rat doesn't feel pain from acid or chilies, a possible adaptation to its cramped underground habitat.
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Plants
Traveling tubers
Potato varieties from Chile arrived in Europe several years before the blights of the mid-1800s, a new analysis of DNA from old plant collections reveals.
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Planetary Science
Dusty Clues: Study suggests no dearth of Earths
A new study suggests that many, or perhaps most, sunlike stars have planets much like Earth.
By Ron Cowen -
Earth
Seafloor Chemistry: Life’s building blocks made inorganically
Hydrocarbons in fluids spewing from hydrothermal vents on the seafloor in the central Atlantic were produced by inorganic chemical reactions deep within the ocean crust, a finding with implications for the possible origins of life.
By Sid Perkins -
Health & Medicine
New route to insulin-making cells
Researchers have found cells resembling stem cells in the mouse pancreas, suggesting new ways to treat diabetes.