Uncategorized

  1. Health & Medicine

    Microbes clean up mercury

    Researchers think a microbe could clean up mercury-laced Native American artifacts.

    By Rachel Ehrenberg
  2. Life

    Replaying evolution

    By watching bacteria evolve in the lab for 20 years, researchers show that evolution may be rather capricious.

    By Patrick Barry
  3. Math

    Communities of Communities of …

    A new approach to network theory focusing on the subcommunities within networks may shed light on everything from food webs to terrorist cells. It may even act as an oracle, helping scientists identify connections within a network they haven’t yet seen.

    By Julie Rehmeyer
  4. Humans

    Fostering gains

    New studies indicate that abused and neglected kids benefit from living with relatives and from high-quality foster care services.

    By Bruce Bower
  5. Earth

    Natural heat

    Heat from the decay of radioactive elements deep within the planet could meet Earth’s energy needs almost three times over — if we could harness all of it.

    By Sid Perkins
  6. Planetary Science

    Dispatch from Mars, Sol 4

    The good news is a tentative sighting of ice by the Mars Phoenix Lander. The bad news is the discovery of a glitch in the system that will analyze soil samples.

    By Ron Cowen
  7. Earth

    Virtual seismometer

    A new supercomputer simulation of the large quake that struck central China earlier this month could help researchers estimate the size of the ground motions experienced in areas that didn’t have seismic instruments.

    By Sid Perkins
  8. Earth

    Death downwind

    Pollutants generated by human activity in Europe significantly boost ozone concentrations downwind, harming people’s health and causing thousands of premature deaths in North Africa, the Near East and the Middle East.

    By Sid Perkins
  9. Health & Medicine

    High doses

    Emergency room patients are exposed to high doses of radiation from CT scans and other nuclear medicine.

    By Tia Ghose
  10. Life

    Tracing human roots

    Using a new method of data analysis, researchers have found that the Americas were peopled in two different migrations.

    By Tia Ghose
  11. Climate

    Already feeling the heat

    Long-delayed U.S. government summary of climate change science sees effects on energy, transportation, farming, and water.

    By Susan Milius
  12. Planetary Science

    Rarin’ to go

    After a day’s delay, the robotic arm on the Mars Phoenix Lander is free of its shackles and is preparing to dig for ice.

    By Ron Cowen