Uncategorized
- Health & Medicine
Dark Side of a Blood Builder: Hormone linked to diabetic blindness
Erythropoietin, a hormone that orchestrates growth processes, may contribute to eye damage in people with diabetic retinopathy.
By Nathan Seppa - Anthropology
A Seasoned Ancient State: Chinese site adds salt to civilization’s rise
Analyses of remains from an ancient Chinese site situated along a river indicate that salt making occurred there as long as 4,000 years ago.
By Bruce Bower - Astronomy
First Supper: X rays may mark eating habits of baby black holes
Astronomers have evidence that just minutes after their tumultuous birth, baby black holes emit powerful burps of X rays that may be fueled by material left over from their first meal.
By Ron Cowen - Physics
Warm Ice: Frozen water forms at room temperature
Ultrathin films of ice observed at room temperature and ordinary atmospheric pressure should be more widespread than previously thought, according to new experiments indicating that weaker-than-expected electric fields induce such freezing.
By Peter Weiss -
Letters from the August 27, 2005, issue of Science News
Sleeper issues I have experienced sleep paralysis in almost all of its forms, from terrors to vibrations and auditory hallucinations to out-of-body experiences (“Night of the Crusher,” SN: 7/9/05, p. 27). Most often it is completely terrifying, but I did have one episode that was elating. Sweet dreams. Kathleen MilroyOntario, Canada The manifestations reported by […]
By Science News -
Turning Back Time: Embryonic stem cell rejuvenates skin cell
By fusing an embryonic stem cell with an adult skin cell, researchers have created cells that retain valuable embryonic characteristics but carry the adult cell's genes.
- Animals
Hey, kids, it’s time for drool
A researcher has for the first time decoded a vibrational signal used by paper wasps.
By Susan Milius - Animals
When a chipmunk teases a rattlesnake
Several of the Northeast's least ferocious forest creatures taunt rattlesnakes.
By Susan Milius - Animals
Faithful voles have hidden infidelities
Prairie voles, used for studying the biological basis of monogamy, do form social bonds but they also have more out-of-pair sexual encounters than most biologists had expected.
By Susan Milius - Animals
Coati version of spoiled brats
A biologist reports that ring-tailed coatis in Argentina have a kind of dominance structure never before documented in animals, with adolescents as a group outranking their moms and older half-sibs.
By Susan Milius - Planetary Science
Radar for rovers on future Mars trips?
Scientists are developing ground-penetrating radar equipment that could serve as geologists' helpers on future Mars-roving vehicles.
By Sid Perkins - Earth
Spores record changes in ozone concentration
Decreasing concentrations of atmospheric ozone over Antarctica have triggered changes in the spores of a plant that grows in the region, a trend that could give scientists insight into ancient extinctions.
By Sid Perkins