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Health & MedicineProgestin linked to hearing loss in older women
Elderly women who received progestin as part of hormone replacement therapy have poorer hearing than do women who didn't get progestin.
By Nathan Seppa -
AnthropologyNeandertal debate goes south
A controversial report concludes that Neandertals lived on southwestern Europe's Iberian coast until 24,000 years ago, sharing the area for several thousand years with modern humans before dying out.
By Bruce Bower -
TechA thin laser gets thinner
Researchers have created a microchip laser that fires an extraordinarily thin beam of high-intensity light.
By Peter Weiss -
AstronomyTemperamental Monsters
A new theory suggests that many huge stars undergo outbursts during which they shed most of their mass late in life rather than doing it gradually over their 3-to-4-million-year lifetimes.
By Ron Cowen -
Health & MedicineCalling Death’s Bluff
New methods of assessing a person's risk of sudden death due to a heart arrhythmia may enable doctors to better identify which patients need to receive an implanted defibrillator.
By Ben Harder -
HumansLetters from the September 23, 2006, issue of Science News
Moo juiced? I live in Northern California, where forest-biomass power plants are common (“Radiation Redux: Forest fires remobilize fallout from bomb tests,” SN: 7/15/06, p. 38). One power plant takes the ashes that result and places them where cows forage. I’m wondering to what level of concentration this process will accumulate the cesium in organic […]
By Science News -
HumansFrom the September 12, 1936, issue
A babe on the moon, antiseptics from oat hulls, and spinning isotopes apart.
By Science News -
EarthSustainable Design Competition
Do you have an idea for a cutting-edge technology that could protect the environment while promoting economic growth? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is offering college professors and their students an opportunity to turn ideas into reality through its P3 (People, Prosperity and the Planet) grants competition. EPA’s P3 is a student design competition […]
By Science News -
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PhysicsSolid Surprise: High-pressure oxygen takes unpredicted form
X-ray analysis of oxygen crystals under high pressure indicated that the substance's two-atom molecules aggregate into groups of four, a crystalline structure that has never been seen before and isn't predicted by current quantum theory.
By Sid Perkins -
AnimalsSexually Deceptive Chemistry: Beetle larvae fake the scent of female bees
Trick chemistry lets a bunch of writhing caterpillars attract a male bee that they then use as a flying taxi on their way to find food.
By Susan Milius -
Planetary ScienceOversize Orb: Puffy planet poses puzzle
Astronomers have discovered what may be the largest planet ever found, an orb 36 percent wider than Jupiter that circles a nearby star.
By Ron Cowen