Uncategorized
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New Memory Manager: DNA silencer also controls memory formation
A surprising finding links memory formation to a process of shutting down genes in growing embryos.
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Animals
It’s a Girl: Atlantic mystery squid undergoes scrutiny
To scientists' surprise, a huge, deep-sea, gelatinous squid formerly reported only in the Pacific Ocean has turned up half a world away.
By Janet Raloff -
Astronomy
First Family: Pluto-size body has siblings
Astronomers have found the first family of objects in the Kuiper belt, a remote outpost of the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune.
By Ron Cowen -
Physics
Warming Up to Criticality: Quantum change, one bubble at a time
Physicists can now observe matter as it gradually turns into a Bose-Einstein condensate—the exotic state of matter that displays quantum behavior at macroscopic scales.
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Anthropology
Ancient Slow Growth: Fossil teeth show roots of human development
An extended period of childhood evolved in people at least 160,000 years ago.
By Bruce Bower -
Health & Medicine
Brain Fix: Stem cells supply missing enzyme
Brain stem cells implanted into sick mice restored a missing enzyme and extended life span by 70 percent.
By Brian Vastag -
Earth
Hey, it’s cooler near the sprinklers
Extensive agricultural irrigation can significantly affect local climate and may be masking the effects of global warming in some areas.
By Sid Perkins -
Tech
EPA council sets priorities
The Environmental Protection Agency's Science Policy Council has outlined the agency's nanotechnology-research needs.
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Health & Medicine
Emerging bug pilfers DNA
A virulent bacterium invading U.S. hospitals and the battlefields of the Middle East pilfers its genes from other bacteria.
By Brian Vastag -
Chemistry
Scrubbing troubles
Triclosan, an antibacterial agent found in many soaps, may increase a person's exposure to a potentially toxic chemical.
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Earth
Hibernation concentrates chemicals
Some pollutants accumulate in grizzlies during the bears' hibernation.
By Ben Harder -
Astronomy
Dance of the dead
Astronomers have found what appears to be the fastest-spinning stellar corpse known.
By Ron Cowen