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  1. Antidepressants get overly positive spin

    Studies finding beneficial effects of antidepressant drugs for depressed patients get published far more often than do studies that uncover no antidepressant benefits.

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  2. Paleontology

    Life explodes twice

    The Ediacaran fauna were as varied as all animals in existence today and, more impressively, as in the Cambrian, report paleontologists.

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  3. Animals

    Fenced-off trees drop their friends

    Protecting acacia trees from large, tree-munching animals sets off a chain of events that ends up ruining the trees' partnership with their bodyguard ants.

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  4. Materials Science

    Life in Print

    Tissues printed with an ink-jet could provide patches for damaged organs, new cell-based materials for drug testing, new ways to probe cellular communication, living sensors, or even fuel cell–type batteries.

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  5. 19918

    This article keeps the reader on track with accurate, entertaining metaphors. It ends with a riveting observation from the White Mountains of New Hampshire: The tree line occurs where windchill temperatures reach 220 kelvins, the temperature at which supercooled water “undergoes a phase transition.” Windchill temperatures are not physical temperatures—neither the trees nor the air […]

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  6. Physics

    Supercool, and Strange

    Scientists tracking H2O's highs and lows are finding new clues as to how and why the familiar substance is so odd. Recent research, for example, suggests that water may exist in two distinct liquid phases at ultralow temperatures.

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  7. Humans

    Letters from the January 26, 2008, issue of Science News

    Bad medicine? In “Unseen Risk: Lifestyle, physical problems may underlie psoriasis link to early mortality” (SN: 12/22&29/07, p. 389), the definition of patients with severe psoriasis as those needing systemic drugs raises the question whether treatment itself may be linked to early mortality. The journal article cited in the story indicates that some systemic treatments […]

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  8. Math

    Checking It Twice

    Election officials have had no practical way to guarantee a correct ballot count—until now.

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  9. Humans

    From the January 15, 1938, issue

    Radio-assisted snowplows, getting to know the "X" particle, and ancient frozen mammoths found in Siberia.

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  10. Animals

    Secret Lives of Worms

    Colorful and compelling, this science-rich, 15-minute video offers an up-close glimpse into the weird world of segmented worms—from nightcrawlers and leeches to feathery coral-dwelling dazzlers. Go to: https://www.sciencenews.org/sn-magazine/april-11-1987

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  11. Astronomy

    X-raying a galactic jet set

    The deepest X-ray portrait ever taken of the galaxy Centaurus A highlights its jets and activity around its supermassive black hole.

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  12. Anthropology

    Infectious Voyagers: DNA suggests Columbus took syphilis to Europe

    A genetic analysis of syphilis and related bacterial strains from different parts of the world fits the theory that Christopher Columbus and his crew brought syphilis from the Americas to Renaissance Europe, where it evolved into modern strains of the sexually transmitted disease.

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