Uncategorized
- Health & Medicine
Decent Interval; Well-spaced babies may have advantage
Babies conceived between 18 months and 5 years after their mothers' previous birth are healthier than are babies conceived before or after these two points in time.
By Nathan Seppa -
19671
Your article states that farsightedness will be treated with these new electric lenses. With some tweaking, could nearsightedness and astigmatism be treated as well? Could binoculars, telescopes, and microscopes use this technology? Roger CurnowGrand Rapids, Mich. Yes and yes, says Dwight P. Duston of PixelOptics in Roanoke, Va. However, he notes that it’s instant switching […]
By Science News - Tech
Switch-a-Vision: Electric spectacles could aid aging eyes
A new type of eyeglasses that change their focus in response to electric signals may one day replace bifocals and other types of reading glasses.
By Peter Weiss - Astronomy
Crash: Ripples of space-time debut in black hole simulations
Two teams have for the first time successfully simulated the merger of two black holes and the event's production of gravitational waves.
By Ron Cowen - Humans
Letters from the April 22, 2006, issue of Science News
Second cousins With reference to “Chimps creep closer yet” (SN: 2/11/06, p. 94), some scientists say that bonobos are genetically closer to humans than to chimps. How did they compare in the referenced study? Dick MedvickCleveland Heights, Ohio Bonobos are indeed as genetically close to humans as are chimps, but there wasn’t enough genomic data […]
By Science News - Tech
A better test for lung cancer?
A genetic test of cells lining the windpipe can detect lung cancer in smokers.
By Nathan Seppa -
19670
This article raises a couple of questions for me. Recently, I drank some clam-tomato juice that contained jalapeño puree. It seemed to alleviate some of my internal ailments. So, I wonder if jalapeño peppers also contain capsaicin. Norman MooreBoca Raton, Fla. Jalapeño peppers do contain capsaicin, but it’s impossible to say whether the substance delivers […]
By Science News - Health & Medicine
Hot-pepper ingredient slows cancer in mice
Capsaicin, the component of red pepper that makes it hot, kills cancer cells in a test tube and inhibits their growth in mice.
By Nathan Seppa -
RNA test might reveal early cancer, offer drug target
Short strands of genetic material called microRNAs could allow scientists to determine which colorectal cancers are likely to recur and might offer targets for new anti-cancer drugs.
By Nathan Seppa - Animals
Worm can crawl out of predators
A parasitic worm can wriggle out through a predator's gills or mouth if the predator eats the worm's insect host. With video.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Protein interacts with hormone that quells hunger
A protein that's more abundant in the blood of obese people inactivates leptin, a hormone that controls hunger.
- Planetary Science
Ice among the rocks
A newly discovered trio of icy comets, hidden among the thousands of rocks in the main asteroid belt, may be part of a previously unknown class and a primary source of water for the dry, early Earth.
By Ron Cowen